• The judgment in Bresco Electrical Services Limited (in liquidation) v Michael J Lonsdale (Electrical) Limited recognised that insolvent parties have an unfettered right to adjudicate.
• In so doing the judgment opened the door for Insolvency Practitioners to use adjudication, or the threat of adjudication, to resolve disputes arising under construction contracts.

PRIOR TO BRESCO

On March 19, in a matter of first impression, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals (Court) held that triangular setoff is not permissible in bankruptcy due to Bankruptcy Code Section 553(a)’s mutuality requirement, and that parties cannot evade that requirement by contracting around it. See In re Orexigen Therapeutics, Inc., 990 F.3d 748 (3d Cir. 2021).

When is a loan not a loan? The SDNY Bankruptcy Court in In Re: Live Primary, LLC[1] held that a $6 million start-up loan was actually an equity contribution after analyzing the terms of the transaction and the intent of the parties. The court recharacterized the loan as equity given the alleged loan functioned as an equity investment would be expected to function.

The current legislation, particularly the Coronavirus (Scotland) Act 2020; Coronavirus (No 2) (Scotland) Act 2020 and the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020, contain measures to protect debtors affected by Covid-19.

These measures restrict the options available to landlords and creditors and have been extended to remain in force until 30 September 2021, although some measures will cease on 30 June pending subject to any further extension which may be granted.

Commercial Leases

Irritancy

Essential points to consider if your company is looking at ways to improve balance sheet strength, whether strategically, opportunistically, or to help repair the damage done by the pandemic.

60 SECOND BASICS

WHAT IS IT

SUMMARY

The Government is attempting to shackle transfers to connected parties by way of pre-pack Administration.

The new draft 'Administration (Restrictions on Disposal etc. to Connected Persons) Regulations 2021', published 24 February (Draft Regulations), are designed to further increase transparency for the wider stakeholder body in connection with pre-packaged Administration business and asset sales to management, sponsors and other connected parties.

2020 was a transformative year for the consumer financial services world. As we navigated an unprecedented volume of industry regulation, Troutman Pepper leveraged our decades of experience and legal know how to help clients find successful resolutions and stay ahead of the compliance curve.

A bill introduced by Democratic U.S. senators looks to make it easier for Americans to discharge student loans and medical debt. If passed as currently written, the Medical Bankruptcy Fairness Act of 2021 would drastically change the U.S. bankruptcy system by removing certain procedural hurdles that make the bankruptcy process complex and by creating a clearer path to discharging debts that impact millions of Americans.

How the night time industries could make it through the last months of lockdown

In his address to the nation on Monday afternoon, the Prime Minister set out the government’s roadmap for cautiously easing lockdown restrictions in England. He shared the latest data on infection rates, hospitalisations and deaths, as well as early data showing the efficacy of vaccines.

The roadmap for leaving lockdown, which was published on gov.uk on Monday, seeks to balance health, economic and social factors with the very latest epidemiological data and advice.