On 22 July 2022, judgment was handed down in relation to the sanction of the first Part 26A restructuring plan to be proposed by a small–medium enterprise (SME) in Re Houst Limited [2022] EWHC 1941 (Ch). The restructuring plan (RP) procedure set out in Part 26A of the Companies Act 2006 (CA 2006) has been widely considered to be out of the reach of SMEs due to excessive cost. The decision is also an interesting one for other reasons, notably the cram-down of HMRC as a dissenting creditor.

The Insolvency Service has published a consultation on the implementation of two UNCITRAL "model laws" relating to insolvency: the Model Law on Recognition and Enforcement of Insolvency-Related Judgments (MLIJ), and the Model Law on Enterprise Group Insolvency (MLEG). The UK has already enacted legislation based on the Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency, in the form of the Cross-Border Insolvency Regulations 2006 (CBIR).

In its June 6, 2022 opinion in Siegel v. Fitzgerald, the United States Supreme Court resolved a circuit split and invalidated a 2017 statute that increased U.S. Trustee fees in 48 states—but not Alabama or North Carolina—as unconstitutional under the uniformity requirement of the Constitution’s Bankruptcy Clause. See Siegel v. Fitzgerald, 596 U.S. ___ (2022).

U.S. Trustee Fees, a History

What effect will government proposals have on insurers, policyholders and other stakeholders?

Background

Insolvency figures for May 2022 were published by the Insolvency Service on 17 June, and reveal an increase in corporate insolvencies both compared to pandemic and pre-pandemic levels.

In a recent decision, Judge David Novak of the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia vacated the Chapter 11 plan confirmation order entered by the bankruptcy court in the Mahwah Bergen Retail Group (formerly known as Ascena Retail Group) case, holding that the plan’s non-consensual third-party releases were unenforceable.¹ The ruling arrived shortly after an

In Re Edengate Homes (Butley Hall) Limited (in liquidation) [2022] EWCACiv 626, the Court of Appeal considered a challenge to an assignment of claims by a liquidator.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Russia has taken another step closer to defaulting on its sovereign debts after an industry watchdog overseeing the credit-default swaps market ruled Wednesday that Russia failed to meet its obligations to foreign bondholders when it paid them in rubles earlier this month.

Recently, the Second Circuit became the first federal circuit court to rule that the federal government could deny a Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) loan to a debtor in bankruptcy solely because of an applicant’s bankruptcy status.[1] Prior to the Second Circuit’s decision in Springfield Hospital, Inc. v.