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In February 2016, Mr Justice Snowden handed down his judgment in the High Court proceedings concerning Ralls Builders Limited (in liquidation) [2016] EWHC 243 (Ch). This matter concerned an application by the liquidators of Ralls Builders Limited (in liquidation) (the company) for a declaration regarding the alleged wrongful trading of the company by its directors, under section 214 of the Insolvency Act 1986 (the Act).

Executive Summary

The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania has established March 31, 2016, as the Claims Bar Date in the Reliance Insurance Company Liquidation. Policyholders and claimants may think that if they file a claim on March 31, 2016, the claim will be deemed timely filed. They would be wrong.

March 30 Is the Key Date

On 12 February 2016, the German Financial Supervisory Authority (Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht, orBaFin) declared Maple Bank GmbH (“Maple”) as an indemnification case, meaning that the German deposit insurance institutions can compensate the bank’s creditors.

BaFin had previously filed an insolvency petition against Maple, and the insolvency court in Frankfurt am Main opened insolvency proceedings on 11 February 2016. It appointed an insolvency administrator who is now responsible for managing Maple’s affairs.

Introduction

Recently, the British Virgin Islands has seen a trend wherein debtors involved in winding-up proceedings have sought to identify what appear to be spurious disputes and then to rely on arbitration clauses in order to strike out or stay the winding-up proceedings. While this tactic could be regarded as capitalising on the wider global trend towards giving absolute primacy to arbitration agreements, it is often deployed to buy time for debtors and frustrate creditors that are legitimately seeking to wind up insolvent companies.

From 1 January 2016, European Economic Area (EEA) member states are required to implement Article 55 of the European Union Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive (2014/59) (BRRD).

As reported in Reed Smith’s March 2015 client alert, insolvency practitioners currently enjoy an exemption from the provisions of Part 2 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO).

Insolvency law in the Cayman Islands is principally regulated by the Companies Law (2013) and the Companies Winding Up Rules 2008, which are supplemented by a wide body of case law. The following guidance is a summary only.

Insolvency

Under Cayman law, a company may be wound up on the basis of insolvency if it cannot pay its debts as they fall due. A company is treated as unable to pay its debts if:

The Insurance Commissioner of Pennsylvania has placed Lincoln General Insurance Company into liquidation in Pennsylvania. As a result, the Insurance Commissioner as Liquidator takes over the property, business, and affairs of Lincoln General; collects assets; resolves claims; and ultimately, distributes assets to creditors, including policyholders and claimants.

Insolvency law in the British Virgin Islands is almost entirely codified in the Insolvency Act 2003 and supplemented by the Insolvency Rule 2005. The Insolvency Act was modelled largely on the UK Insolvency Act 1986, but with a number of key differences. This update summarises its features.

Insolvency