L’art. 1 del cd. Decreto Liquidità prevede come noto la possibilità per imprese di ogni dimensione di accedere a finanziamenti bancari assistiti in misura variabile da garanzia prestata da SACE.

Nel suo articolato, la norma si riferisce alla “impresa beneficiaria” quale destinataria del finanziamento; sono tuttavia numerosi i riferimenti al gruppo di appartenenza di tale impresa, principalmente ai fini del calcolo dei parametri ma anche in relazione ad obblighi (ad esempio l’impegno a non deliberare la distribuzione di dividendi deve riguardare tutte le società del gruppo).

A company’s intellectual property rights^[1] are some of its most valuable and most enduring assets. They are also often the most encumbered, or the most enhanced, by contract.

On 22 May 2020, Justice Black of the Supreme Court of NSW issued judgment In the matter of Wollongong Coal Limited and In the matter of Jindal Steel & Power (Australia) Pty Ltd [2020] NSWSC 614. The judgment sets out his Honour’s reasoning for granting the orders sought in a largely unprecedented application to effectively ‘re-enliven’ two schemes of arrangement which automatically terminated prior to being completed.

Amendments to Article 9.1 of the Insolvency Law¹ ("Law 149-FZ") came into effect on 24 April 2020. The amendments provide that the benefit of the insolvency filing moratorium can be waived (the "moratorium waiver"). In addition, on 21 April 2020, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation ("Russian SC") adopted clarifications (the "Clarifications"),² which, in particular, explain that the moratorium will apply if the debtor meets the formal criterion of being included in the list of persons covered by the moratorium ("protected debtors").

In Canada, the federal government enacted the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act R.S.C., 1985, c. B-3 (“BIA”), which is intended to relieve honest but unfortunate debtors of their debts and to organize a process that allows for an orderly administration of the estate of the debtors.

The process created by the BIA sets out the duties and obligations of the various stakeholders involved in the insolvency proceeding and it establishes numerous deadlines by which certain tasks are required to be accomplished.

Some of the more salient delays include:

On March 27, 2020, Congress enacted, and President Trump signed into law, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act to provide financial relief to individuals and small business harmed by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The CARES Act included an initial allocation of $349 billion to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), a convertible loan program under Section 7 of the Small Business Act (SBA).

The Spanish Government has just approved relevant changes to the Spanish Insolvency Act in view of the current situation in Spain pursuant to the COVID-19 outbreak.

The new Royal Decree 16/2020, of 28 April

Before Royal Decree 16/2020, of 28 April ("RD 16/2020"), was approved, certain temporary changes had already been introduced as a matter of urgency to Spanish Act 22/2003, of 9 July (the "Spanish Insolvency Act"), by Royal Decree 8/2020, of 17 March ("RD 8/2020").

The effects of the COVID-19 outbreak leave many Belgian enterprises in financial distress, or even, for some of them, at risk of insolvency. In order to help these enterprises navigate the crisis and prevent them from going bankrupt, the Belgian Government implemented a moratorium on insolvency and enforcement proceedings.

Beneficiaries

Any enterprise (e.g. any legal person) whose continuity is threatened due to the COVID-19 outbreak and which was not in cessation of payments on 18 March 2020 may benefit from this moratorium.

The Russian Government has introduced a moratorium on the filing of insolvency claims (the "moratorium")¹ from 6 April through 6 October 2020. This will have important legal consequences both for the persons covered by it ("protected debtors") and for those with whom they do business. The moratorium imposes restrictions on transactions made by protected debtors.

On 20 March 2020, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced the UK Government would be launching multiple financial support schemes. The schemes are designed to provide financial assistance to British businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdown. Financial schemes will be supplemented by further measures aimed at supporting business continuity, including a job retention scheme and temporarily relaxing the UK’s insolvency regime.

COVID-19 Corporate Financing Facility (“CCFF”)