Liability management transactions which may favour a subset of creditors over another are increasingly common in the US leveraged finance markets. 2024 may be seen as the year in which these US imports began to make a real impact in Europe. Which strategies could creditors employ to protect themselves from unfavourable treatment where such transactions are attempted?
The Employment (Collective Redundancies and Miscellaneous Provisions) and Companies (Amendment) Act 2024 has been commenced with effect from 1 July 2024.
On 1 July 2024, the Employment (Collective Redundancies and Miscellaneous Provisions) and Companies (Amendment) Act 2024 was commenced in full and is now law.
The securitization or structured finance market has evolved from its early origins focused primarily on financial assets (e.g., mortgages, receivables, loans credit card accounts, etc.) to the world of non-traditional or esoteric securitizations with exciting new assets.
ACT WHICH ENHANCES PROTECTION FOR EMPLOYEES AFFECTED BY INSOLVENCY NOW LAW
The Employment (Collective Redundancies and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2024 has been signed into law. The Act, once commenced, will amend the existing collective redundancy regime in insolvency situations and will deliver on key Programme for Government commitments detailed in the Plan of Action – Collective Redundancies following Insolvency.
Background
Following an overhaul of the Singapore insolvency regime which came into force on 30 July 2020, the insolvency and restructuring framework was consolidated in the omnibus Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act 2018 (IRDA). One of the key features of the IRDA was to amend the then-existing construct of statutory avoidance actions in Singapore.
Overview of statutory avoidance provisions following IRDA
The Employment (Collective Redundancies and Miscellaneous Provisions) and Companies (Amendment) Act 2024 (the Act) was signed into law on 9 May 2024 but has not yet been commenced.
The US appears likely to enter a default cycle in the near future, according to senior fund managers and economists. A recent bout of M&A transactions involving chapter 11 cases point in the same direction. Taking deals involving bankruptcy cases as a proxy for distressed M&A, 16 such transactions were announced in the US in Q1, up 14.3 percent year on year, according to Dealogic. The aggregate value of those deals reached US$1.8 billion, a gain of 76 percent from the same period in 2023.
The Employment (Collective Redundancies and Miscellaneous Provisions) and Companies (Amendment) Act 2024 has been signed into law. The text of the Act remains unchanged from when we published a briefing on the Bill in December here.
At A Glance