On 21 July 2020 the Irish High Court approved a scheme of arrangement for the world's largest regional aircraft lessor Nordic Aviation Capital DAC (Nordic).
The scheme, which included a 12-month standstill and deferral of c. US$5 billion of secured and unsecured debt, was a market-first for the aircraft leasing industry and has been watched closely by others in the sector.
The Irish scheme had a number of innovative features:
On 21 July 2020, the Irish High Court approved a scheme of arrangement for the world’s largest regional aircraft lessor Nordic Aviation Capital DAC (NAC).
The scheme, which included a 12-month standstill and deferral of c. US$5bn of secured and unsecured debt, is a market-first for the aircraft leasing industry in Ireland whose customer base has been seriously impacted by COVID-19. We look at the NAC scheme of arrangement and consider whether it is a viable restructuring option for the aviation sector more generally.
The Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation has published the general scheme of proposed legislation amending the Companies Act 2014.
On 26 June 2020, The Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 (Act) became law, providing the UK (but with separate provisions for Northern Ireland) with temporary and permanent changes to insolvency law aimed at helping businesses manage the economic implications of COVID-19.
Of particular interest to the construction industry will be one of the new Act’s permanent measures relating to continuing supply.
Judgment has now been handed down by Marcus Smith J in another important case regarding the Lehman estate. This gives much needed clarity on how subordinated debts rank as between themselves.
The judgment concerned:
An unfortunate but inevitable consequence of the economic downturn induced by COVID-19 is that an increasing number of construction companies will enter into insolvency. In Bresco Electrical Services Ltd (in liquidation) v. Michael J Lonsdale (Electrical) Ltd [2020] UKSC 25, the Supreme Court has provided some respite to contractors in liquidation by finally confirming their unfettered right to refer construction disputes for resolution by adjudication.
The Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 (CIGA) came into force on 26 June 2020, having been fast-tracked through Parliament. Although most of CIGA relates to insolvency law, the Act also makes some temporary changes to company law in the UK. The purpose of these is to give companies greater flexibility to deal with the difficulties caused by COVID-19.
Key changes
On 20 May 2020, the UK government introduced the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Bill (the Bill) to Parliament. The Bill went through a fast-track approval process in Parliament, received Royal Assent on 25 June 2020 and entered into force on 26 June 2020 as the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 (the Act). The Act introduces a number of temporary and permanent measures which are designed to provide relief and support to businesses affected by COVID-19.
The Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 introduces a temporary, retrospective suspension of the directors' personal financial liability for wrongful trading from 1 March 2020 until 30 September 2020. This is not a blanket defence to a breach of duty by directors, since the directors' general duties to act in the best interests of the company (or, on insolvency, its creditors),will continue to apply.
On 26 June the long-awaited Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 came into force and introduced emergency measures to provide protection to directors of companies which continue to trade notwithstanding the threat of insolvency, and to prevent, where possible, companies entering into insolvency due to COVID-19.