The Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 (“CIGA“) ushered in a flexible restructuring compromise or arrangement for companies in financial difficulty (the “Restructuring Plan“). The legislation governing the Restructuring Plan sits alongside that for schemes of arrangement and is included in a new Part 26A to the Companies Act 2006.

The Restructuring Plan does not apply to companies that are solvent with no risk of insolvency; rather it only applies to companies where two conditions have been satisfied:

Esta é a primeira edição do “Brasília em Pauta”, um boletim preparado pela equipe de Contencioso de Brasília, contendo os principais casos a serem julgados pelo Supremo Tribunal Federal (STF), Superior Tribunal de Justiça (STJ) e Tribunal de Contas da União (TCU), bem como importantes questões a serem votadas pela Câmara dos Deputados e Senado Federal.

So you have a freezing order against a start-up company, now what? Can that start-up use the assets which are the subject of your order, or any of its other assets, to continue to pursue its risky business, or must it stay idle and wait for the inevitable?

Almost 12 years after the commencement of the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy case, we now know the answer to one of that case’s most interesting questions—namely, whether so-called “flip clauses” are protected settlement payments or void as ipso facto bankruptcy provisions.

In March 2020, Business Secretary Alok Sharma announced that provisions on wrongful trading would be suspended. The move came as part of a wider package of measures that sought to provide assistance to businesses – and their beleaguered boards – experiencing financial distress due to Covid-19.

Now set out in the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 (CIGA), which was passed on 26 June 2020, the provisions adapt the wrongful trading regime making directors’ liability for the “relevant period” unlikely.

Why does it matter?

On 26 June 2020 the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act (CIGA) came into force. The CIGA has made both permanent and short-term changes to the insolvency regime in response to the coronavirus pandemic and its consequences.

Why does it matter?

One of the permanent reforms provides that a contractual term of a contract to supply services or goods will be ineffective if:

On 4 June 2020, a draft of The Insolvency Act 1986 (HMRC Debts: Priority on Insolvency) Regulations 2020 was provided to the Public Bill Committee. The Regulations are due to come into force on 1 December 2020.

The draft Regulations set out the debts due to HMRC that will have ‘secondary’ preferential status in insolvencies from 1 December 2020. They are debts in respect of PAYE income tax, employee NICs, construction industry scheme deductions and student loan repayments. VAT debts are to be treated in the same way, though are not covered by these draft Regulations.

The Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act ("the Act") came into expedited effect on 26 June 2020 and is intended to maximise the chance of corporate survival and reduce the threat of personal liability on directors during this unprecedented economic crisis.

D&O insurers should be clear about one thing: this Act will not help them and in fact it could well make things worse.

The Act

The Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 is far-reaching with its implications extending to pension schemes. Pension scheme employers and trustees should ensure that they are familiar with the provisions of the Act, and the potential impact that they could have on schemes, employers and savers.

Introduction

The Act received royal assent on Thursday 25 June. The Act passed through Parliament very quickly, so that its provisions can be used by companies experiencing financial difficulty as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Act contains:

This Legal Update provides an outline of the Thai rehabilitation process, by reference to the Thai Airways proceedings currently underway in Bangkok's Central Bankruptcy Court.

Toward the end of this Legal Update, we also touch on how airlines could use US Chapter 11 proceedings, a process understood to have been mooted by Thai Airways.