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In the first of our short videos in relation to business recovery and resilience, John Alderton (Partner in our Restructuring & Insolvency team), responds to the question:

‘There hasn’t been a wave of insolvencies, is business stress still there or are we through the worst of it?’

Please click here to listen to John’s answer.

Singapore is getting serious about becoming the region’s international insolvency hub. In this inaugural podcast from the International Insolvency Institute, Hon. Kevin Carey (Ret.) of Hogan Lovells discusses Hon. Christopher S. Sontchi‘s forthcoming move from Delaware bankruptcy judge to International Judge of the Singapore International Commercial Court (SICC).

In a significant decision, the Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court (Shenzhen court) has ordered formal recognition in the mainland for Hong Kong appointed liquidators. This is the first occasion on which a mainland court has formally recognized and granted assistance to Hong Kong liquidators, expressly granting them powers to deal with assets located in the mainland under the new insolvency co-operation mechanism concluded between Hong Kong and the mainland.

We discussed the announcement that Bulb Energy Ltd (“Bulb”) was due to be placed into special administration in our previous blog outlining how the rules for energy supply companies work, the supplier of last resort (“SoLR”) regime and what energy supply company special administration entails.

As has been widely reported, the recent energy price volatility (coupled with the price cap limiting suppliers’ ability to pass increased costs on to consumers) has caused a number of energy supply company failures. Yesterday saw the announcement of the collapse of Bulb, one of the UK’s largest energy suppliers, with it being due to be placed into special administration very shortly.

This is the first energy special administration we’ve seen. So how are the insolvency rules different for energy companies? What is a special administration, and why is this the first one?

In two recent judgments, the Hong Kong companies court has set out the principles applicable to winding up companies holding operating subsidiaries in the mainland through intermediate subsidiaries incorporated offshore, most commonly in the BVI. In doing so, the Honourable Mr. Justice Harris highlighted the need for the petitioner to demonstrate a "real and discernible benefit" to creditors, something which will be challenging to prove if the company’s centre of main interests is not in Hong Kong.

Further to our blog last week regarding the restrictions on presentation of winding-up petitions being (partially) lifted, the legislation replacing the existing restrictions on presenting winding-up petitions has now been passed and is due to come into force on 29 September 2021.

随着香港及内地就相互认可和协助破产程序及重组事务达成共识,一个新纪元到来了。从今往后,希望通过中国债务人位于香港的财产收回欠款的债权人,或是拥有内地财产的香港运营实体的债权人,终于在谈判桌前享有了话语权。

随着香港及内地就相互认可和协助破产程序及重组事务达成共识,一个新纪元到来了。从今往后,希望通过中国债务人位于香港的财产收回欠款的债权人,或是拥有内地财产的香港运营实体的债权人,终于在谈判桌前享有了话语权。

霍金路伟最新一期《投资中国:法律监管信息速递》专题系列将为您深度探秘下列安排:

Hong Kong and the Mainland have agreed a new co-operation mechanism for cross-border insolvency. Under the agreement, liquidators from Hong Kong may apply to Mainland courts for recognition of insolvency proceedings in Hong Kong, whilst bankruptcy administrators from the Mainland can apply to the Hong Kong High Court for recognition of bankruptcy proceedings in the Mainland.

Hong Kong and the Mainland have agreed a new co-operation mechanism for cross-border insolvency.

On Monday, Zacaroli J handed down his eagerly anticipated judgment in Lazari Properties (2) Limited (and others) v New Look Retailers Limited (and others).

The New Look landlords challenged the New Look CVA and raised a number of arguments which some believed could be the end of CVAs as we know them. In particular, the New Look landlords argued that CVAs had gone far beyond the use for which they had been intended and sought to challenge the jurisdictional basis upon which some CVAs are implemented.

The key arguments were that: