Finance Minister Grant Robertson yesterday afternoon announced a number of proposed temporary changes to the Companies Act, with the stated purpose to help businesses facing insolvency due to COVID-19 remain viable.

The temporary changes include:

Changes may be coming to the Bankruptcy Code’s safe harbor provisions.[1] In 2012 the American Bankruptcy Institute established a Commission to Study the Reform of Chapter 11 (the “ABI Commission”), composed of many well-respected restructuring practitioners, including two of the original drafters of the Bankruptcy Code, whose advice holds great weight in the restructuring community.