Tax authorities have perceived recently that international corporate groups are going through internal business restructurings in large part or in whole to achieve income tax savings.

The German Government has introduced a reform of the German Insolvency Code (Insolvenzordnung– InsO) in order to further facilitate business restructurings in Germany.

In Germany, the restructuring of companies or groups in financial crisis is subject to significant tax risks.

It has become common in financings for companies to utilise a capital structure with multiple layers or tranches of debt.

One thing companies often overlook in a restructuring plan is the role of communications.

Chapter 15 of the US Bankruptcy Code enables debtors that are already subject to a foreign insolvency proceeding to receive assistance from US courts in order to protect and administer their property located in the United States.

The turmoi l that rocked many commercial banks during the most recent recession should serve as a warning sign to savvy borrowers that they must be proactive and explore new financing opportunities, not only to address their own credit issues, but also to avoid potential problems with their existing lenders.

In BNY Corporate Trustee Services Limited v Eurosail–UK 2007–3BL Plc and others, the Court of Appeal ruled on the interpretation of the so-called "balance-sheet" test of insolvency under section 123(2) of the Insolvency Act 1986. This is essentially that a company is deemed unable to pay its debts if the value of its assets is less than the amount of its liabilities, taking into account its contingent and prospective liabilities. This appears to be the first reported case on the interpretation of the balance-sheet test of insolvency.

The administrator who is running off the business of English (re)insurer GLOBAL General & Reinsurance Company Ltd filed a petition under Chapter 15 of the United States Bankruptcy Code with the federal bankruptcy court in Manhattan yesterday. The petition asks for the court's assistance with the last of four Schemes of Arrangement for GLOBAL, which was sanctioned by the High Court of Justice for England & Wales on January 28, 2011.

As we reported earlier in the week, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation ("FDIC") has begun filing lawsuits against the directors and officers of banks that it now holds in receivership . The lawsuits are consistent with previous public statements in which the FDIC committed to try to recover, from the directors and officers of these failed banks, some of the $2.5 billion lost to bad loans in recent years.