The coronavirus pandemic is sending shock waves through the business world. If a GmbH (German limited liability company) finds itself in financial distress, the management in particular will be under pressure and must fight for the survival of the business. At the same time, there are various scenarios in which managing directors could be held liable for not implementing crisis prevention measures or exercising the necessary diligence during the crisis.
Liability for inadequate crisis prevention
In light of the coronavirus pandemic, the Russian Federal Law "On Insolvency (Bankruptcy)" (the "Bankruptcy Law") has been amended to allow the Russian Government to introduce a moratorium on filing of insolvency claims.
On 23 April 2020 the UK Government announced that they will be introducing a temporary ban on the use of statutory demands and winding up petitions where the inability to pay has arisen because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Another Hong Kong court decision has questioned whether the judgment in the leading case of Lasmos Limited v. Southwest Pacific Bauxite (HK) Limited [2018] HKCFI 426, may have gone too far when it suggested that an arbitration clause in an agreement should generally take precedence over a creditor's right to present a winding-up petition.
Overview of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) market in Singapore
Singapore was one of the first countries outside of China to encounter the virus. Whilst deal activity was down on the prior year, M&A transactions were still happening with sectors such as e-commerce and renewable energy appearing attractive. The impact on M&A activity for the second quarter of 2020 isn't clear at present but restricted mobility will certainly impact transactions, with site visits being all but impossible.
Counterparties to swap and repurchase transactions have come under pressure following the financial dislocations caused by the novel coronavirus pandemic in 2020 (“COVID-19”). Falling and illiquid markets may result in margin calls that create immediate liquidity risk and may lead to an event of default if required margin is not posted in accordance with the contract.
Hogan Lovells Publications | 20 April 2020
An outlook: the rise of distressed infra M&A
The current economic downturn is expected to bring about a growing niche of investment opportunities in distressed infrastructure and energy assets and businesses.
Wenn es eilt, bietet die ZPO Mittel und Wege, schnell ans Ziel zu kommen. Der Eilrechtsschutz ist in der COVID-19-Pandemie daher stark im Fokus. Es stellen sich Fragen wie „, Können die Gerichte helfen, die Lieferkette zu stützen?, Wie lässt sich ein Eilverfahren derzeit praktisch durchführen?, Ist durch ‚Corona‘ jetzt alles dringlich?“. Dieser Beitrag unserer Reihe „Coronavirus & Zivilprozess“ verschafft einen Überblick.
Überblick: Eilrechtsschutz mittels Arrest und einstweiliger Verfügung
The Australian Government has introduced new laws which are intended to avoid unnecessary corporate insolvencies in light of the challenges presented by the unfolding COVID-19 global pandemic. The new laws came into effect on 25 March 2020 and include:
Both the German federal government and various German federal states are pushing ahead with packages of measures to mitigate the as-yet-unforeseeable economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Overview
In order to mitigate the economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, the legislator passed the COVID-19 Insolvency Suspension Act (COVInsAG; the “Act”), which came into force on 27 March with retroactive effect from 1 March 2020.