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 coronavirus pandemic has made life complicated for almost all businesses, especially from the financial point of view. Businesses thus face an increased risk of bankruptcy and subsequent insolvency proceedings.

To help with this challenging situation, an amendment to the Insolvency Act as part of the "Lex Covid" was adopted. Lex Covid became effective on 24 April 2020.

Initiation of insolvency proceedings

Creditor's right to file an insolvency petition

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.

Introduction

On 23 April 2020 the Croatian Government adopted a Proposal for an Act on Intervention Measures in Enforcement and Insolvency Proceedings During Special Circumstances (the "Draft Intervention Act"). The Draft Intervention Act states that its purpose is to alleviate the position of citizens subject to the enforcement proceedings, to help companies which may be facing bankruptcy during the special circumstances, as well as to help the recipients of national and/or EU grants and recipients of the governmental aid due during the special circumstances.

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”)

About a year ago, I completed the most exhausting marathon of my life serving as the chief lawyer during the cross-border restructuring and chapter 11 of Waypoint Leasing, an Ireland-based helicopter leasing company. I joined Waypoint Leasing shortly after it started operations in the newly formed helicopter leasing industry. After the first few years of meteoric growth, the collapse in oil & gas prices hit the helicopter industry hard. We soon found ourselves dealing with bankrupt customers and eventually reached the brink of financial distress ourselves.

With the fourth law on COVID-19, the Austrian legislator has suspended the obligation of an overindebted debtor to file for insolvency until 30 June 2020, irrespective of the cause of the over-indebtedness. Some other countries in the CEE region have also adopted measures to combat the consequences of COVID-19 as detailed in the following overview:

Die COVID-19-Pandemie und deren wirtschaftliche Auswirkungen führten bisher zu insgesamt fünf umfassenden COVID-19 Gesetzespaketen. Darunter finden sich ua Änderungen im Insolvenz-, Anfechtungs- und Eigenkapitalersatzrecht, mit denen die wirtschaftlichen Auswirkungen der COVID-19-Pandemie adressiert werden sollen. Ein erster Schritt in die richtige Richtung, weitere insolvenzrechtliche Anpassungen werden aber folgen müssen. Im Folgenden wird ein Überblick über die wesentlichen insolvenzrechtlichen Änderungen gegeben.

Verlängerte Insolvenzantragsfrist

The Indonesian Supreme Court has provided guidance on the availability of the key restructuring process in Indonesia – the examination process of a suspension of payment or restructuring (Penundaan Kewajiban Pembayaran Utang or PKPU). The guidance comes amidst a challenging economic climate and limits the remedies available to secured creditors by preventing secured creditors from initiating a PKPU.

PKPU as a Restructuring Channel