Introduction
Editor, Jonathan Spearing
Welcome to the ninth edition of Commodities in Focus (CIF); our bulletin for clients engaged in the production, trading, carriage, storage and financing of commodities.
As widely blogged about, on 26 June 2020 the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 (the Act) came into force, introducing both far-reaching wholescale reforms to the UK’s restructuring toolbox as well as temporary measures dealing with COVID-19 impacts on companies. The two most significant temporary measures for companies facing financial difficulties as a result of the COVID 19 pandemic were:
COVID-19 Cuts a Harsh Path Through the Aviation Sector
Recent months have brought unprecedented challenges to businesses, with no sector immune to the economic repercussions of the pandemic. Yet despite headline news of certain high-profile restructurings and insolvencies, such as Virgin Atlantic, Debenhams, and Edinburgh Woollen Mill, it seems the emergency measures implemented by the UK Government have, to a degree, staved off wide spread economic collapse that may otherwise have been inevitable.
This note considers how the recent changes to UK insolvency law introduced by the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 ("CIGA") might affect those involved in the sale and purchase of commodities. In particular, it looks at the impact of Section 14 of CIGA on contracts for the supply of goods or services, and on the typical rights and remedies of the seller / supplier under such contracts.
In the latest edition of Going concerns, Stephenson Harwood's Asia restructuring and insolvency team touch on key changes in Singapore brought about by the recent Singapore Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act 2018 (and where applicable, the impact on the shipping industry), and the positions in Singapore and Hong Kong on winding up petitions vs arbitration clauses.
Content
Get to know the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act 2018 ("IRDA") Winding up petitions vs arbitration clauses (SG) The prima facie standard of review prevails
On 8 October 2020, the UK Government published draft regulations applying to sales in administration by way of a 'pre-pack' to a connected party purchaser.
UK pre-pack administrations
A pre-pack administration is where:
Covid-19 has had a staggering impact on the U.S. economy in just eight months. Businesses large and small are struggling to stay afloat, with over 3,600 Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings in the first half of the year.[i] By the third quarter of 2020, the number of Chapter 11 bankruptcies of companies with assets over $1 billion had doubled from the same period in 2019[ii] and the U.S. GDP had fallen 2.4%.[iii] Given the uncertainty surrounding the pandemic, economists predict that a full economic recovery is likely to take years.[iv]
John Doyle Construction Limited (in liquidation) v Erith Contractors Limited sees the first consideration of a claim for summary enforcement of an adjudication decision by a company in liquidation following the Supreme Court’s decision in Bresco Electrical Services Limited (in liquidation) v Michael J Lonsdale (Electrical) Limited.
On 6 September 2020, the England and Wales High Court approved the second scheme of arrangement proposed by Codere (an international gaming group) in a little over five years, following a fully contested convening hearing spread over three days.
In the convening judgment ([2020] EWHC 2441 (Ch)), the Court concluded that the various fees payable to the members of an ad hoc committee of scheme creditors did not fracture the single class proposed by Codere.