Global political crises, volatile interests, inflation and supply chain issues challenge many companies. In this blog series, VISCHER's restructuring & insolvency team will show how companies can navigate through these challenges. Here you will find answers to the most important questions regarding the duties of a director of a Swiss subsidiary.
1. What is the group dilemma and what interests must a Swiss subsidiary's board safeguard?
Since their introduction to the English insolvency regime in 2020, court sanctioned restructuring plans under Part 26A of the UK Companies Act 2006 – a new, more-flexible alternative to traditional UK restructuring tools – which take some of their DNA from U.S. Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings (in particular, the ‘cross class cram down’ mechanism), have been a hot topic for insolvency lawyers.
In this blog article, we present the most important legal amendments in relation to the newly adopted Federal Act on Combating Abusive Bankruptcy.
In March 2022, the Swiss Parliament adopted the Federal Act on Combating Abusive Bankruptcy with the aim of preventing debtors from using bankruptcy proceedings to escape from their financial obligations to the detriment of their creditors or to engage in unfair competition with other companies. For this purpose, various laws and ordinances will be amended and the new law is expected to come into force on January 1, 2024.
Airlines throughout the world were unable to fully trade during the pandemic-related lockdowns and their subsequent travel restrictions, creating significant liquidity constraints during 2020–22. As a result, a number of major international airlines—including Aeroméxico, Avianca, LATAM, Norwegian Air Shuttle, SAS and Virgin Australia—were forced to file for bankruptcy protection or insolvency administration, and many airline lessors were forced to agree to defer lease rental payments from their airline customers.
The new company law, which will come into force on January 1, 2023, provides for numerous adjustments and innovations regarding capital loss, over-indebtedness and (in)solvency. In this article of our blog series on the new company law, we shed light on what will have to be taken into account.
Monitoring liquidity
The United Kingdom’s Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 (CIGA) shifted the focus of the United Kingdom’s insolvency regime from administration and liquidation to rescue and recovery and introduced a number of interesting new features that apply to companies experiencing financial difficulties. This article considers how certain of these features fit into the insolvency regime of the Cape Town Convention.1
The COVID-19 regulation on insolvency law set out the conditions under which COVID-19-related over-indebtedness of the company does not to lead to a declaration of bankruptcy by the board of directors (see our blog post "COVID-19 Deferral of Bankruptcy Filing in Switzerland").
What is a debt-restructuring moratorium?
Since 20 April 2020, both the judicial and debt collection pauses have ended. The legal standstill decreed by the Swiss Federal Council in accordance with Art. 62 of the Debt Enforcement and Bankruptcy Act (DEBA) has thus expired. For a business that, despite the emergency aid provided by the Swiss government and the cantons, is still unable to meet its obligations (immediately) but wishes to continue its business activities, the question arises as to how it can obtain creditor protection.
Due to the COVID-19 crisis, many companies in Switzerland could face bankruptcy.