In an increasing number of restructuring cases of globally-operating companies, companies or funds outside Japan are becoming strong sponsor candidates, and even more foreign players are expected to be actively selected as sponsor candidates in the future.
In this article, we focus on the sponsor selection process in out-of-court restructurings and legal insolvency procedures in Japan, based on recent actual cases.
FTX Trading Ltd. ("FTX") and its affiliates (collectively, "FTX Group"), which operated one of the largest crypto-asset exchanges in the world through the FTX.com platform, filed for Chapter 11 in the United States on November 11 last year.
The high-profile Chapter 11 case of the FTX Trading group involves its Japanese affiliates including FTX Japan, which operated a registered cryptocurrency exchange in Japan and has been ordered by the Financial Services Agency of Japan to suspend its business upon the filing for Chapter 11. Recently, a motion was made for entry of orders approving, among other things, the group to sell FTX Japan's business through so-called “363 sale”.
- Companies Seek More Liquidity – As access to capital may decrease in the coming year, companies on the periphery of needing more operations income are reaching out to lenders to capture the full amount of capital they can borrow currently.
- Correction in Valuations of Companies Without Apparent Underlying Assets – Investors are scrutinizing the valuations of companies more closely, particularly those whose probability of success is tied to nascent products or services.
- Operations Right-Sizing is Underway – Companies are
Restructuring & Insolvency Newsletter
December 2022 (Vol.1)
The first case in Japanese history where the debtor used simplified rehabilitation proceedings as a tool to "cram down"
minority lenders
I. Introduction II. Overview of the procedures used
- Turnaround ADR and simplified rehabilitation proceedings
III. Marelli case IV. Expected future developments
Mori Hamada & Matsumoto
Summary of Key Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) Amendments
Are customers’ digital assets held by exchange platforms in so-called “Custodial” and “Withhold” accounts property of the bankruptcy estate? This may be coined the golden question in the recent crypto bankruptcy chronicles, and at a status conference held Oct. 7, 2022, Bankruptcy Judge Martin Glenn of the Southern District of New York scheduled Dec. 7 and Dec. 8 as tentative dates to hear oral arguments on the issue.
In life (as in business), as Heraclitus said, “the only constant is change.” In today’s fast-paced economy, this axiom should be kept in mind during contract negotiations, especially in a bear market.
平素は格別のご高配を賜り、厚く御礼申し上げます。 このたび、森・濱田松本法律事務所では、各分野の近時のリーガルニュースを集めて、 Client Alert 2022 年 9 月号（Vol.105）を作成いたしました。実務における一助となれば 幸いに存じます。