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A new Statement of Insolvency Practice 16 ("SIP 16") relating to pre-packaged sales in administration ("Pre-Packs") came into force on 1 November 2013.

This corporate update summarises certain decisions in the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court relating to the balance sheet insolvency test, agreements to agree and the exercise of contractual discretion. The decisions clarify the law in a number of areas of day-to-day relevance.

UK BALANCE SHEET INSOLVENCY TEST: Implications for lenders and borrowers

Background

Cancellation of commercial agreements under German insolvency law

Commercial agreements usually provide for extraordinary termination rights or even automatic cancellation in the case of insolvency of one of the parties. Such a cancellation right may, however, contradict the general principles of German insolvency law.

There have been a number of recent English Court judgments of interest in the corporate field and this corporate update reports on cases relevant in relation to warranties and representations in M&A transactions, restrictive covenants in acquisition agreements, the enforcement of foreign judgments in cross-border insolvency proceedings and the piercing of the corporate veil.

WARRANTIES OR REPRESENTATIONS? - Ensuring clarity of intention when drafting acquisition agreements

On May 29, 2012, the Supreme Court of the United States, in the chapter 11 cases of RadLAX Gateway Hotel, LLC, and RadLAX Gateway Deck, LLC (the “RadLAX Cases”)1 held by a vote of 8-02 that a chapter 11 plan cannot be confirmed if the plan (i) is rejected by a class of secured claims, (ii) provides for the sale of collateral free and clear of liens securing such claims, and (iii) deprives the holders of such claims of the right to credit bid at the sale of collateral.  

Preliminary Remarks

On March 1, 2012, the Act for the Further Facilitation of the Restructuring of Companies (ESUG) came into effect. The main aim of the ESUG is to improve the prospects of an early and successful restructuring of distressed companies, to involve creditors in the selection process of the (preliminary) insolvency administrator and to improve the reliability and predictability of particular insolvency plan proceedings. The main changes of the ESUG to the current German insolvency law (InsO) comprise:  

On 29 February 2012, the UK Supreme Court handed down its judgment concerning the treatment of client money in the long-running administration of Lehman Brothers International (Europe) (“LBIE”).

On October 31, 2011, the Honorable Kevin J. Carey, Bankruptcy Judge of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, issued an opinion denying confirmation of two competing proposed plans of reorganization in the chapter 11 cases of In re Tribune Company, et al.