The landmark decision in Design Studio¹ introduces the US rescue financing concept of "roll-ups" to Singapore. This is the first case to consider the appropriateness of the roll-up feature in Singapore and is a pragmatic decision that is guided by a careful balance between the protection of creditors' interests and the rehabilitation of the debtor. This case also clarifies that super priority is not solely for new money financings.

The Design Studio case and the super priority regime

On June 23, the New York County Supreme Court issued a rare preliminary injunction temporarily halting a mezzanine lender’s UCC foreclosure sale of the Mark Hotel in New York City because the procedures for the foreclosure sale were not commercially reasonable in light of conditions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic (D2 Mark LLC v. Orei VI Investments LLC, 2020 WL 3432950 (2020)).

On June 22, 2020, FERC issued a declaratory order confirming its view that it shares jurisdiction with the United States Bankruptcy Court (“Bankruptcy Court”) over transportation agreements between ETC Tiger Pipeline, LLC (“ETC Tiger”) and Chesapeake Energy Marketing L.L.C. (“Chesapeake”). As a result, aside from obtaining approval from the Bankruptcy Court to reject its contracts with ETC Tiger, Chesapeake must seek a determination from FERC as to whether a filed rate may be modified or abrogated under the Natural Gas Act (“NGA”).

If you are an aviation professional in the COVID-19 era, you are likely learning about, or reacquainting yourself with, the restructuring process.

Amendments to Article 9.1 of the Insolvency Law¹ ("Law 149-FZ") came into effect on 24 April 2020. The amendments provide that the benefit of the insolvency filing moratorium can be waived (the "moratorium waiver"). In addition, on 21 April 2020, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation ("Russian SC") adopted clarifications (the "Clarifications"),² which, in particular, explain that the moratorium will apply if the debtor meets the formal criterion of being included in the list of persons covered by the moratorium ("protected debtors").

Client Alert

On May 7, 2020, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo enacted Executive Order No. 202.28, which extended and expanded — but in some cases narrowed — the temporary suspension of several New York state laws due to the COVID-19 crisis. The Executive Order impacts many industries and individuals in New York state, including both commercial and residential landlords and tenants.

The SBA’s Rules Exclude Bankruptcy Debtors From Relief Under the Paycheck Protection Program

The SBA’s Rules Exclude Bankruptcy Debtors from Relief Under the Paycheck Protection Program

The Spanish Government has just approved relevant changes to the Spanish Insolvency Act in view of the current situation in Spain pursuant to the COVID-19 outbreak.

The new Royal Decree 16/2020, of 28 April

Before Royal Decree 16/2020, of 28 April ("RD 16/2020"), was approved, certain temporary changes had already been introduced as a matter of urgency to Spanish Act 22/2003, of 9 July (the "Spanish Insolvency Act"), by Royal Decree 8/2020, of 17 March ("RD 8/2020").

The effects of the COVID-19 outbreak leave many Belgian enterprises in financial distress, or even, for some of them, at risk of insolvency. In order to help these enterprises navigate the crisis and prevent them from going bankrupt, the Belgian Government implemented a moratorium on insolvency and enforcement proceedings.

Beneficiaries

Any enterprise (e.g. any legal person) whose continuity is threatened due to the COVID-19 outbreak and which was not in cessation of payments on 18 March 2020 may benefit from this moratorium.