The Coronavirus (Scotland) (No.2) Bill (the “Bill”) has been introduced by the Scottish Parliament today, 11 May 2020. The aim of the Bill is to respond to the financial impact the COVID-19 pandemic is having on individuals and small businesses (by that Scottish Ministers mean sole traders, not companies incorporated under the Companies Act 2006).

The new measures seek to overcome the expected high rate of insolvency, refinancing, and corporate disputes arising from the COVID-19 crisis

As part of its response to the COVID-19 situation, Companies House has announced that it will accept the filing of statutory insolvency documents via emailed PDF attachments.

This measure applies to companies registered in Scotland, as well as England & Wales and is yet another practical example of the steps being taken to try and alleviate the administrative burden on insolvency practitioners.

It is perhaps not as well-known as it should be that the Bankruptcy (Scotland) Act 2016 sections 195 – 198 provides a six-week moratorium – effectively a postponement or period of protection from action to recover debts - to individuals, partnerships and trusts facing financial distress or liquidity issues.

The moratorium provides breathing space to allow parties to be protected from their creditors while they take advice and consider what debt relief options might be available to them.

A party can normally apply for the moratorium once in any 12-month period.

New legislation suspends contractual obligations for the next six months with related disputes subject to a separate dispute resolution system.

On 7 April 2020, the Singapore Parliament passed the COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) Act (the Act) offering temporary relief to businesses and individuals who are unable to fulfil their contractual obligations because of COVID-19 and providing temporary amendments to bankruptcy and insolvency laws. The Act went into effect immediately.

�عمل مكتب سلمان بن متعب السديري للمحاماة"مؤسسة فردية" بالتعاون مع ليثم أند واتكن� �� المملكة العر�ية السعودية. و�عمل ليثم أند واتكن� �� جميع أنحاء العالم كشراكة ذات مسؤولية محدودةمنظمة بموجب قوان�ن ولاية ديلاو�ر (بالولايات المتحدة الأمر�كية) بالتعاون مع شر�ات تضامن تا�عة ذات مسؤولية محدودة تقدم خدما��ا �� فر�سا وهونج �ونج وإيطاليا وسنغافورة والمملكة المتحدة، وتقدم الشركة خدما��ا كشركة تضامن تا�عة �� اليابان. كما �عمل الشركة �� �ور�ا ا�جنو�ية كشركة أجنبية للاستشارات النظامية. حقوق النشر لعام ٢٠٢٠ محفوظة لصا�ح ليثم أند واتكن�. جميع ا�حقوق محفوظة.

Debtors and creditors can use several options under the Insolvency Law in Saudi Arabia to address COVID-19-related difficultie

Proposed changes to UK insolvency laws aim to support companies under pressure due to COVID-19.

On 28 March 2020, the UK government announced a number of reforms to UK insolvency laws:

COVID-19 and government measures to fight it may significantly affect M&A transactions

The Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection (BMJV) is currently finalizing the law to mitigate the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic in civil, insolvency, and criminal proceedings with extraordinary commitment. It shall be adopted less than two weeks after the beginning of the extensive restrictions on public life and the economy in Germany due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

A central element of the law is to facilitate the raising of debt capital in order to support companies in the current situation. For this purpose: