The UK Supreme Court’s recent decision in El-Husseini and another v Invest Bank PSC [2025] UKSC 4 has clarified the circumstances in which section 423 of the Insolvency Act 1986 (the Act) provides protection against attempts by debtors to “defeat their creditors and make themselves judgment-proof.” This is a critical decision for insolvency practitioners, any corporate or fund which is involved in distressed deals and beyond to acquirers who were not aware they were dealing in distressed assets.

The England and Wales Court of Appeal recently handed down its first judgment relating to a restructuring plan under Part 26A of the UK Companies Act 2006: Re AGPS Bondco Plc [2024] EWCA Civ 24. Restructuring plans were a 2020 innovation in UK insolvency law, as described in our earlier alert.

过去数年，打包重组（Repackaging）结构盛行，中资金融机构寻求使用其作为便利进入市场的工具，并为客户提供创新的融资方案。

中国房地产行业是最广泛使用该结构的行业之一，该行业在2021年高开低走、大起大跌，并于最后一季急挫。市场预期房地产行业在2022年仍将困难重重。

在此背景下，我们察觉到安排人（Arranger）、中国房地产企业及投资者正在寻求对现有的打包重组交易进行结构调整（restructure）的机会（包括提前终止、展期、增加额外增信措施、置换等安排）。此外，我们还观察到，市场对与中国非房地产行业主体（如融资租赁公司、金融科技公司）相关的资产支持交易的兴趣有所增加。

我们将于本文探讨部分有关修订或提前终止打包重组交易的主要问题，并且概述我们在市场中观察到的典型案例和未来趋势。

温故知新：打包重组交易的基本结构

许多较为简单的打包重组交易的结构一般具有下列特点：

From 15 February 2022, the UK Insolvency Service is granted new powers to investigate and disqualify or prosecute directors of dissolved UK companies. The Rating (Coronavirus) and Directors Disqualification (Dissolved Companies) Act (the Act) extends the Insolvency Service’s powers, on behalf of the UK Business Secretary, to deal with company directors who abuse the company dissolution process.

The UK government has announced that temporary restrictions on creditor action introduced in the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 are to be phased out. These temporary restrictions were put in place to protect businesses in financial distress, as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, from being forced into insolvency.