(财政部、国家税务总局关于进一步支持企业事业单位改制重组有关契税政策的通知)
Following the State Council’s call to introduce policies promoting corporate restructuring in Guofa [2014] No. 14, MoF and SAT released Caishui [2015] No. 37 (“Circular 37”) to exempt from deed tax the transfer of land use rights and building ownership rights in the following corporate transactions:
In a “loan-to-own” investment, an investor acquires secured debt at a discount to leverage the face amount of the debt in an asset purchase or debt-to-equity swap. For example, if an investor can buy US$50 million worth of debt for US$25 million, it can, in a bankruptcy proceeding, bid on the underlying assets that secure the debt at a 50 percent discount, because the investor can credit bid the face value of the debt as the equivalent of cash in a sale of collateral in bankruptcy, thus creating a competitive advantage over cash or strategic bidders.
Until recently, there was little call for restructuring and turnaround specialists in the UK to focus on the oil and gas industry. That has now undoubtedly changed. In the second half of 2014, Brent crude prices fell from over US$100 a barrel to around US$50, and although prices have since stabilised (currently near the US$60 mark), a low price environment in the medium term seems likely. That is not bad news for all in the oil and gas industry.
1. The reform and its drivers
We are witnessing an unprecedented review of Spanish Law 22/2003 on Insolvency Proceedings (Spanish Insolvency Act or “IA”). With the recent approval of three Royal Decree-Laws (“RDLs”), namely RDL 4/2014, of 7 March, RDL 11/2014, of 5 September and RDL 1/2015, of 27 February), the Spanish legislator seeks to achieve three main goals:
Kandola v Mirza Solicitors LLP [2015] EWHC 460 (Ch)
A recent decision of HHJ Cooke in the Chancery Division of the High Court in Kandola v Mirza Solicitors LLP [2015] EWHC 460 (Ch) has provided some useful guidance on solicitors' duties to advise as to the risk of insolvency of the vendor when acting for purchasers in property transactions where deposits are held as agents for the vendor. It also provides guidance on solicitors' duties generally when advising on risks in transactions.
The Facts
The Spanish Insolvency Act has been reformed several times recently to solve technical problems and to facilitate the continuity of economically or operationally viable companies. In the final quarter of 2014 alone, two partial reforms of the act were approved.
Royal Decree-Law 11/2014, of September 5, on urgent measures in insolvency matters
The UK is to ratify the Cape Town Convention and its Aircraft Protocol (together, Cape Town). This may help UK aircraft operators access cheaper capital markets funding. But that cheaper funding may require the UK, in effect, to adopt Cape Town's "Alternative A" insolvency regime. Section 1110, US Bankruptcy Code (on which Alternative A is based) has worked well in US airline restructurings. But Alternative A may not mesh well with English insolvency law. Will Alternative A hamper restructurings of UK operators of helicopters and other aircraft?
The Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan No. 176-V “On Rehabilitation and Bankruptcy” dated 7 March 2014 (hereinafter the “Rehabilitation Law”) was amended as follows:
On March 7, 2014, the State Council released its Opinion on Further Optimizing the Market Environment for Corporate Merger and Restructuring (Guo Fa [2014] No. 14, “Circular 14”), to improve the institutional mechanisms and policies that encourage corporate mergers and restructuring. Circular 14 gives overall guidance on special treatments for merger and corporate restructuring transactions with regard to enterprise income tax (“EIT”), land value-added tax, value-added tax and business tax.
The Supreme Court confirmed the lower-court judgments that had rescinded the payments made to the managing director through remuneration, as the bylaw requisite to create the right to receive it had not been met, as well as payments made to shareholders through dividends, differentiating between the resolution of the meeting to distribute dividends and the payment of these dividends.