Following the landmark decision by Justice Trower in Re DeepOcean 1 UK Ltd,1 Justice Snowden delivered another important judgment on the use of cross-class cram downs as he sanctioned the Virgin Active2 restructuring plans.
The recent Court of First Instance decision in Li Yiqing v Lamtex Holdings Limited [2021] HKCFI 622 (11 March 2021) is a landmark decision in cross-border insolvency law in Hong Kong, in which the Court held that when it is considering the recognition of foreign insolvency proceedings, regard should not simply be had to the place of incorporation of the relevant company, but that in a departure from previous practice, the location of the company’s centre of main interest (COMI) is also a factor.
In addition to the extension to the commercial eviction ban until 30 June 2021, the UK Government has now also extended the moratorium on commencing winding-up proceedings until 30 June 2021.
You may view the regulation from the UK Government at gov.uk.
On 16 March 2021, the German Financial Supervisory Authority (Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht, or BaFin) declared Greensill Bank AG (Greensill) to be an indemnification case, meaning that German deposit insurance institutions can compensate the bank’s creditors.
BaFin had previously filed an insolvency petition against Greensill, and the insolvency court in Bremen opened insolvency proceedings on 16 March 2021. It appointed an insolvency administrator who is now responsible for managing Greensill’s affairs.
The case in question is CIMB Bank Bhd v. World Fuel Services (Singapore) Pte Ltd [2021] SGCA 19. The decision was delivered on 5 March 2021 by the Singapore Court of Appeal.
The judgment addresses issues surrounding claims by a bank under assignments and other security documents over rights in and receivables under commodities supply contracts, and overturns the Singapore High Court decision in CIMB Bank Bhd v. World Fuel Services (Singapore) Pte Ltd [2020] SGHC 117.
Summary
The race to vaccinate Americans is likely to bring an end to the pandemic in the months ahead, but the outlook for the U.S. economy is far less certain. On Friday, the Federal Reserve Board delivered its Monetary Policy Report to Congress. While providing statistics suggesting that U.S. businesses could rebound when the pandemic ends, the report noted significant risks of business bankruptcies as well as a steep drop in commercial real estate prices.
Credit bidding is the process whereby a lender, with a secured charge over a borrower’s asset, bids on that asset using the very debt that is owed by the borrower to the lender. The circumstances are usually foreclosure of a lending position against a borrower.
In the maritime sector, this process often takes place in the context of forced judicial sales of vessels pendente lite (i.e., during the course of litigation) and frequently before judgment is obtained against the borrower shipowner.
At present, Hong Kong does not have any statutory corporate rescue regime. A financially distressed company may try to rescue its business by entering into (i) private debt restructuring agreement(s) with its major creditors; or (ii) a scheme of arrangement under the Companies Ordinance (Cap. 622), which allows for a compromise between the company and its shareholders and creditors.
Two recent decisions of the Honourable Mr Justice Harris are helpful additions to the growing amount of case law in this jurisdiction dealing with cross-border insolvency issues and are worthy of examination.
Hong Kong Companies Court appoints provisional liquidators for the purpose of seeking recognition in Mainland for the first time
Hot on the heels of the landmark changes to the insolvency landscape brought by the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 (CIGA) (see our previous article on CIGA), the Government recently announced reforms relating to pre-packaged administration sales to connected parties.