In a judgment issued yesterday (Francis v Gross [2024] NZCA 528), the Court of Appeal unanimously overturned the controversial High Court decision in Francis v Gross [2023] NZHC 1107 and held that purchasers of partly constructed modular buildings (pods) did not have equitable liens (at all, and especially not in priority to secured creditors) over those pods.

In August 2021, Raízen S.A. (one of the largest integrated energy companies in Brazil) merged with Biosev S.A. and Biosev Bioenergia S.A (sugar, ethanol and biomass producing businesses previously owned by the Louis Dreyfus group). Shortly prior to the completion of that merger, the agreement for which was signed in February 2021, Raízen completed one of the biggest initial public offerings in Brazil ever.

AML changes for court-appointed liquidators

Important changes for court-appointed liquidators to the regulations under the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009 (Act) will come into force on 9 July 2021.  These changes provide that, for a court-appointed liquidator:

The High Court has released its judgment in Re Halifax NZ Limited (In liq) [2021] NZHC 113, involving a unique contemporaneous sitting of the High Court of New Zealand and Federal Court of Australia.

The Colombian airline Aerovias Nacionales de Colombia S.A. – Avianca (“Avianca”) has made a habit of accessing the structured credit markets by monetizing its expected stream of credit card receivables, filing for U.S. Chapter 11 protection when in distress, and then challenging the structured credit agreements to which it had committed. Recently, Avianca reached a settlement with the lenders to its existing future flow receivables transaction, entered into in December 2017, which will result in a restructured loan facility.

The real lesson from Debut Homes – don't stiff the tax (wo)man

The Supreme Court has overturned the 2019 Court of Appeal decision Cooper v Debut Homes Limited (in liquidation) [2019] NZCA 39 and restored the orders made by the earlier High Court decision, reminding directors that the broad duties under the Companies Act require consideration of the interests of all creditors, and not just a select group. This is the first time New Zealand’s highest court has considered sections 131, 135 and 136 of the Companies Act, making this a significant decision.

In a pair of private exchange offers consummated in May 2020, airport operating companies owned by Corporacin Amrica Airports S.A. (NYSE: CAAP) in Argentina and Uruguay were able to restructure their existing debt securities in order to withstand the substantial revenue declines associated with the drop-off in air travel as a result of the coronavirus pandemic ("COVID-19").

Five years after it refused to pay rent and took the landlord to the High Court, and two years after it was placed into liquidation on account of unpaid rent, the final branch of litigation brought by the directors of Oceanic Palms Limited (in liq) has been cut down by the Supreme Court.

The UK Supreme Court in Bresco Electrical Services Ltd (in liq) v Michael J Lonsdale (Electrical Ltd) [2020] UKSC 25 has decided that the adjudication regime for building disputes is not incompatible with the insolvency process.

In the two judgments, Commissioner of Inland Revenue v Salus Safety Equipment Ltd (in liq) [2020] NZHC 1368 and Commissioner Inland Revenue v Green Securities Ltd (in liq) [2020] NZHC 1371, Associate Judge Bell significantly reduced the amount recoverable in each proceeding by liquidators. 

Both cases considered applications from liquidators to seek approval of their remuneration.  In Salus the amount claimed was $91,600 and in Green Securities it was $159,044.