The Hong Kong High Court has found that cryptocurrencies are property in a landmark case, further boosting the city’s virtual asset industry and its ambition to become the Asian crypto hub.

In line with EU regulation, Luxembourg has finally passed an amendment resulting in the creation of an insolvency register, active since 10 February, 2023. The change will affect Luxembourg companies declared insolvent and is intended to improve searches of insolvency registers throughout the EU.

Entrepreneurs in difficulty, who are struggling with the performance of a contract, may benefit from a restructuring procedure. Any restructuring procedure guarantees the protection of executed contracts, with the most effective solution being the reorganization procedure (postępowanie sanacyjne).

This note aims to provide brief and practical answers to common questions on the law of assignment in English law finance transactions.

1. Are all notified assignments legal assignments?

Key Takeaways

Incorporating the principles contained in EU insolvency directives, the new Italian Insolvency Code affirms the goal of resolving crises in the least traumatic way possible for the business. This represents a fundamental innovation of the underlying philosophy of Italian insolvency law and the remedies envisaged for companies in distress so that they may successfully restructure their outstanding exposure. Below, we provide a general overview of the Insolvency Code and its key remedies.

The Insolvency Code in brief

The first High Court decisions in 2023; Metal Manufactures Pty Limited v Morton Metal Manufactures Pty Limited v Morton [2023] HCA 1 (‘Metal Manufactures’) and Bryant v Badenoch Integrated Logging Pty Ltd [2023] HCA 2 (‘Bryant’) have provided the final word on preference claims, establishing once and for all that:

1. set-off under s 553C of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) (‘the Act’) does not apply to unfair transactions; and

2. the peak indebtedness rule does not apply.

The Corporate Enforcement Authority recently published its guidance note on EU Directive 2019/1023 known as the "Preventive Restructuring Directive", which you will find here (Information Note).

Our Restructuring & Insolvency Team reflects on the year, the industry trends and significant matters of 2022. The Team also looks forward as to what the next 12 months may have in store.

Background

On 5 October 2022, the Supreme Court handed down its long-awaited judgment in BTI 2014 LLC v. Sequana S.A. [2022] UKSC 25 concerning the trigger point at which directors must have regard to the interests of creditors pursuant to s.172(3) of the Companies Act 2006 (the "creditors' interests duty").