The Australian government has taken swift action to enact new legislation that significantly changes the insolvency laws relevant to all business as a result of the ongoing developments related to COVID
Following the UK Government extending the restrictions on winding up petitions until 30 June 2021 it is useful to note two recent cases that have considered the coronavirus test that currently applies to winding up petitions.
The Government has issued a consultation paper regarding statutory audits and financial reporting. The consultation makes proposals in relation to four areas, namely directors, auditors and audit firms, shareholders and the audit regulator.
With fairly swift measure the UK House of Commons approved the ‘pre-pack regulations’ confirming that, with effect from 30 April 2021, before a pre-pack sale can complete creditor approval or an independent written report from an evaluator will be required.
The detail about, the now mandatory referral process, can be found in our previous blogs.
Who will the evaluator be?
The Australian government has taken swift action to enact new legislation that significantly changes the insolvency laws relevant to all business as a result of the ongoing developments related to COVID-19.
Although debtors who file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy generally cannot pay prepetition debts until a plan which complies with the “absolute priority rule” is confirmed, there are a number of now well-established exceptions to this rule.
Avec la promulgation de la loi n° 14.112/2020 entrée en vigueur le 23 janvier 2021, le Brésil adopte la loi type de la Commissions des Nations Unies pour le Droit Commercial International (« CNUDCI ») sur l’insolvabilité internationale de 1997 (la « Loi Type »), devenant ainsi le 49ème Etat à le faire.
Introduction
Insolvency Laws – all change in 2020, what about 2021?
Appointing administrators
Changes to pre-packs
Practice and procedure
There has been a significant increase in the use of CVAs, in particular in the retail and hospitality sector over the last 12 to 24 months, largely impacting landlord creditors. Consequently, there has been an increase in landlords challenging CVAs.
Landlords (and other creditors) may apply to court to challenge a CVA on the grounds of material irregularity or unfair prejudice.
On 22 October 2020, the UAE government made various changes to the UAE Bankruptcy Law*, including the concept of Emergency Financial Crisis (EFC). Subsequently, on 10 January 2021, the UAE Cabinet declared the existence of an EFC in the UAE. In this article, Partners Michael Morris and Keith Hutchison explore how this declaration may impact on debtors and creditors.
Emergency Financial Crisis
One of the key changes implemented was a power given to the UAE Cabinet to declare an EFC. An EFC is defined as: