Is it Groundhog Day for private equity backed companies struggling to cope with higher interest rates, or is it different this time? The attempts to curb inflation flowing from the re-opening of the global economy after the Covid pandemic and the war in Ukraine have seen interest rates rise globally. In this article we look back at the response to financial distress in private equity backed companies during the global financial crisis of 2007-2009 and ask if it is different this time?
On 28 June 2022 the Insolvency Service published a report it had commissioned from RSM UK to assess the impact that CVAs were having on commercial landlords (the “Report”).
The UK Government yesterday announced that it will proceed with the phasing out of temporary measures introduced to protect businesses from creditor action during the COVID-19 pandemic, whilst also announcing new measures to protect smaller businesses from winding up petitions. The legislation required to implement these amendments was laid before Parliament yesterday and will come into force on 29 September 2021.
On Wednesday, the Court of Final Appeal ("CFA") reversed the lower courts' decision in the Yung Kee case1 , holding that the Hong Kong court has jurisdiction to order the winding up of Yung Kee Holdings Limited (the "Company"), a holding company incorporated in the British Virgin Islands and not registered in Hong Kong.
In 2014, the law of privilege was considered from various angles, with the year closing on a Court of Final Appeal decision emphasising the primacy of legal professional privilege ("LPP") as an absolute right guaranteed by the Basic Law of Hong Kong.
While the cases outlined below generally provide comfort that the law of privilege in Hong Kong holds strong, we offer a few practical points to help safeguard the privilege of legal advice:
The Court of Appeal has declined jurisdiction to wind up Yung Kee Holdings Limited (the "Company"), a company incorporated in the British Virgin Islands ("BVI"), upholding the decision of Harris J at first instance that the Company did not have "sufficient connection" with Hong Kong.