Key Points
Key Points
Hong Kong Airlines (HKA) has announced that it is seeking to implement a restructuring of its aircraft lease obligations and other liabilities by court action in the UK and Hong Kong.
The plan proposes to give aircraft lessors a right to an upfront cash recovery — of about 5 percent of their claims (or in the case of lessors of aircraft being retained, the right to elect equity in the restructured HKA) — and potential future payouts starting in 2028 tied to the future earnings of the airline.
Key Point
- The UK government's proposals to only partially implement a new UNCITRAL Model Law means that creditors of English law debts who do not consent to a foreign restructuring proceeding will still have recourse to enforcing their rights against the debtor's UK-based assets.
English Law Is Still a Special Situation
The Alberta Court of Appeal (the “ABCA”)’s anticipated decision in Manitok Energy Inc (Re), 2022 ABCA 117 (“Manitok”) confirmed that the sales proceeds of a debtor estate’s valuable petroleum and natural gas assets that are subject environmental claims including, notably, abandonment and reclamation obligations, must first be applied to abandonment and reclamation obligations, even where such assets are “unrelated” to the abandonment and reclamation obligations.
Elon Musk recently said he has a "super bad feeling" about the economy, pithily declaring what most financial commentators have been predicting in more technical terms.
Key Points
- The use by Malaysia Airlines' subsidiary, MAB Leasing Ltd. (incorporated in Malaysia) ("MABL"), in 2021, of an English Scheme of Arrangement (a "Scheme") to compromise its aircraft lease obligations proved that US Chapter 11 is not the only route to a globally recognised compromise of airline leases.
- Airline lessors should now prepare themselves for Schemes (and possibly also other English restructuring processes) as an alternative to Chapter 11.
Background
Overview and Why This Case Matters
In the matter of the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act ("CCAA") of SM Group, the Supreme Court of Canada rendered a decision regarding compensation in CCAA proceedings. The court ruled that a creditor's right to pre-post compensation under civil or common law may be stayed by a court pursuant to sections 11 and 11.02 of the CCAA.
Dans l’affaire de la Loi sur les arrangements avec les créanciers des compagnies (« Lacc ») relative à Groupe SM, la Cour suprême du Canada prononce une décision sur la compensation dans le cadre de procédures en vertu de la Lacc.
In the matter of the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (the “CCAA”) of Bloom Lake, the Superior Court of Québec rendered a judgment regarding the expansion of the powers of the monitor in a context where a creditor refused to produce documentation requested by the debtors.