The High Court has, for the first time since the introduction of the legislation in June 2020, refused to sanction a cross-class cram-down restructuring plan under Part 26A of the Companies Act. In In the matter of Hurricane Energy Plc [2021] EWHC 1759 (Ch), the court rejected a plan supported by bondholders because it had not been shown that the opposing shareholders had no better alternative prospects (i.e., the ‘no worse off condition’ had not been met).
The Supreme Court’s decision in Sevilleja v Marex Financial Ltd [2020] UKSC 31 of 15 July 2020 provided much needed clarity on the scope of the rule against “reflective loss”.
Germany's major legal reform aiming to facilitate group insolvencies comes into effect on April 21, 2018 (full German text). The new law allows insolvency proceedings over companies within a corporate group to be concentrated at a single German insolvency court and/or to be administered by one insolvency administrator.
The German Parliament passed an act to reduce the risk of clawback actions and provide more legal certainty in this regard under German law, the so called "Act for the Improvement of Legal Certainty concerning Clawback pursuant to the German Insolvency Code and the Creditor's Avoidance of Transfers Act" (Gesetz zur Verbesserung der Rechtssicherheit bei Anfechtungen nach der Insolvenzordnung und dem Anfechtungsgesetz) on Thursday, 16 February 2017.
License purchases can be excluded from the insolvency administrator’s right to reject or assume contracts
On February 24, 2016, the legal committee (Rechtsausschuss) of the German parliament (Bundestag) held a hearing on the proposed reform to considerably limit the clawback regime (Insolvenzanfechtung) in the German insolvency code (Insolvenzordnung – InsO). The general gist of hearing was that the current German governing party coalition is still determined to enact the reform, with some modifications as to the scope and protected parties still up for discussion.
A key objective of the current German coalition government is the reform of the clawback provisions in the German Insolvency Act (Insolvenzordnung - InsO). To address this, the German Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection recently published a draft bill for discussion.
The German government is expected to remain in office until 2017, making it highly likely that this reform will become law, in the course of 2015-2016.
Background and objective of the reform
German insolvency case law on intellectual property rights has experienced rapid development in recent years, while attempts by the German legislature to regulate this subject with precision have repeatedly failed. The multitude of stakeholders involved (among them insolvency administrators, licensors, sub-licensees and creditors that have liens on IP rights) could not agree on a resolution acceptable to all.