Earlier this year the Committee to Strengthen Singapore as an International Centre for Debt Restructuring (the "Committee") published, and the Singapore Ministry of Law accepted, recommendations aimed at enhancing Singapore's position as a `lead centre' for international debt restructuring. Is Singapore now well-positioned to become Asia Pacific's debt restructuring hub?

Background

Introduction

On 25 July 2016, the White & Case team obtained, at the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation (the "Supreme Court"), a declaration that a secured creditor has the right to reduce, at its discretion, the amount of a secured claim during receivership and, as a consequence, the right to vote at meetings of the debtor's creditors.

Introduction

• Introduction
• Background

On 17 June 2016, the First-tier Tribunal (in Farnborough Airport Properties Ltd v HMRC²) held that the appointment of a receiver over a (would-be surrendering) group company meant that “arrangements” were in place for the company to no longer be under the same “control” as would-be claimant group companies.

On 3 June 2016, the Hong Kong Government gazetted the Companies (Winding Up and Miscellaneous Provisions) (Amendment) Ordinance 2016 (“Amendment Ordinance”). The date of commencement of the Amendment Ordinance will be appointed by the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury by notice published in the Gazette.

Background

From 1 April 2016, conditional fee agreements (CFA), after the event premiums and success fees will no longer be recoverable in insolvency cases.

The legislative change is set to have the biggest impact on lower-value insolvency cases (damages less than £500,000 and legal costs lower than £200,000).

Rise in FRC investigations

In Vizcaya Partners Ltd v Picard and another, the Privy Council recently held that anagreement to submit to the jurisdiction of a foreign court can arise through an implied term but there must be actual agreement (or consent). However, simply agreeing that an agreement should be governed by foreign law did not amount to agreement to the corresponding jurisdiction.

In our recent note “Treatment of senior unsecured debt in European leveraged finance transactions: the need for an intercreditor agreement”, which can be viewed here, we addressed the increase in flexibility in European financings to incur senior unsecured debt and the risk that the lack of any agreed intercreditor arrangement may impair senior secured lenders’ ability to realise recoveries from a European Credit