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).

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").

Readers will recall, on April 1, 2020 the RF President signed RF Law No. 98-FZ, amending RF Law No. 127-FZ On Insolvency (Bankruptcy) of October 26, 2002 (the Law) and authorising the Government to impose a moratorium on creditors’ initiation of bankruptcies to stabilize the economy in exceptional cases (a Moratorium).

Immediately thereafter, by Decree No. 428 of April 3, 2020 as part of the COVID-19 relief program, the Government adopted such a Moratorium until 7 January 2021 (the COVID Moratorium).

A limitation period is the statutory time limit set out in law for a person to file a lawsuit as a result of some loss or damage. Each Canadian province has a specific statutory framework governing limitation periods for legal matters falling under provincial jurisdiction. Many provinces use a “discoverability” scheme under which a person must commence legal proceedings within two years of specific factual elements being “discovered” by the person.

In this article, Dentons gives its inside view on the pre-pack evaluator's report, made compulsory earlier this year to improve the confidence of creditors in pre-pack administration sales to connected persons. We consider the practicalities of selecting the right evaluator for the job, the potential for "opinion shopping" from evaluators and whether these new regulations have achieved what was intended.

A recap on pre-packs

We are delighted to see that yesterday 7 December 2021, the Companies (Rescue Process for Small and Micro Companies) Act 2021 was commenced. The process is designed to make rescue more accessible and affordable to small/micro companies that are in distress but fundamentally viable. The Department of Enterprise, Trade & Employment has launched a dedicated web page in relation to the process.

Executive summary

Two recent High Court judgments could benefit an estimated 20,000 people with long-term mortgage arrears in Ireland. The judgements show how workable solutions can be found without having to go to Court, with significance being placed on the proposed solutions being reasonably achievable and not strongly opposed by creditors.

Fennell v Personal Insolvency Acts 2012-2015

General Scheme of Companies (Small Company Administrative Rescue Process and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021 (“SCARP”) just published

Last week saw the government further extend COVID-19 emergency insolvency provisions until 31 March 2021. Since April, these have: