Russell Crumpler & Christopher Farmer (as Joint Liquidators of Three Arrows Capital Ltd (in Liquidation)) v Three Arrows Capital Ltd (in Liquidation) and BVIHC (Com) 2022/0119 (unreported 26 July 2023)
Insolvency litigation witnessed intriguing developments across multiple aspects in Hong Kong in 2023, ranging from the court’s updated Practice Direction on Bankruptcy and Winding-Up Proceedings to on-going debate surrounding the interplay between insolvency proceedings and arbitration clauses. In this Legal Update, we examine major developments that unfolded. The key takeaways are: 1.
As the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands reopens for 2024, we reflect on 2023 and some of the large-scale cross-border insolvency and restructuring proceedings, and complex commercial disputes dealt with in the jurisdiction over the past year.
Statistics from the Grand Court
There were approximately 1,579 filings made in the Grand Court, which can be broken down as follows:
December 2023
The Right of Set-off in Insolvency Proceedings
MAYER BROWN | THE RIGHT OF SET-OFF IN INSOLVENCY PROCEEDINGS
The pilot measure for mutual recognition and assistance of insolvency proceedings between the courts of three pilot areas in Mainland China and Hong Kong was agreed in mid-2021, which is known as the Cooperation Mechanism.
Since then, liquidators in Hong Kong have had a more certain and structured route to seek, through Hong Kong Court, recognition and assistance from the designated Mainland courts in the three pilot areas including Shanghai, Shenzhen and Xiamen.
Key Takeaways
With commercial property companies’ debt burdens reaching pre-2008 levels and warnings being issued this month by the European Central Bank, in this article we outline some of the key issues to be considered and steps which may be taken by BVI real estate holding companies to protect their position in the face of rising financing costs and other inflationary pressures.
Over the past several years, unitranche facilities have become increasingly prevalent. This growth has been driven by the ever-growing class of private credit and direct lenders who initially developed the unitranche facility structure, along with traditional bank lenders now joining this market. The unitranche structure has several advantages, including typically quicker execution for the parties involved and in some cases a lower cost of capital to the borrower.
On November 6, 2023, WeWork Inc. and several hundred of its affiliates filed voluntary chapter 11 cases in the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey. According to a press release issued simultaneously with the filings, WeWork also intends to file recognition proceedings in Canada under Part IV of the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act. The press release also states that WeWork’s locations outside of the United States and Canada are not part of the reorganization process.
INTRODUCTION Within German contract law, the principle of being bound by a contract (pacta sunt servanda) (i.e., the obligation to fulfill an agreement) applies. However, in the case of the insolvency of one of the contract parties, exceptions are made. Upon the opening of insolvency proceedings, the principle of being bound by a contract is modified. The insolvency provisions concerning the fulfillment of mutual contracts (Section 103 et seqq.