On May 8, 2020, the Supreme Court of Canada (the "SCC") released its reasons for the ruling rendered on January 23, 2020, which allowed the appeal by 9354-9186 Québec Inc. and 9354-9178 Québec Inc. (collectively, "Bluberi")^[1]. The SCC's ruling set aside the Québec Court of Appeal's (the "Court of Appeal") ruling, thereby restoring the first instance judgment of the Superior Court of Québec ("Superior Court").

The English Court of Appeal has handed down its judgment in the Debenhams case, on which we acted. A copy of the judgment can be downloaded here. This upholds the decision of the High Court, which followed the earlier decision in Carluccio’s.

On 21 April 2020, just over a week before the anticipated end of the South African national lockdown, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced further economic and social relief measures in response to the COVID-19 epidemic. This comes at a time when South Africa teeters towards a food and humanitarian crisis of “biblical proportions”.

This note sets out the duties of the following directors of French companies with a particular focus on the duties owed by such directors of companies in financial difficulties:

The declaration of the state of emergencybecause of the COVID-19 crisis will significantly increase the number of applications for insolvency in Spain.

Measures proposed by the General Council of the Judiciary (Consejo General del Poder Judicial) (GCJ) are designed to streamline insolvency proceedings in order to facilitate the continuity of the business activity of insolvent companies or, at least, to enable them to obtain the maximum performance from the sale of their assets.

In this context, the GCJ measures appear to be based on two principles:

As part of the package of measures to mitigate the effects of the corona crisis, the German Bundestag has fast-tracked an act to mitigate the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic in civil law, insolvency law, and the law on criminal procedure, adopting it into law on 25 March 2020. 

The act contains a civil law moratorium that benefits parties who owe certain forms of contractual performance where the COVID-19 pandemic has forced them into the position that they cannot meet their contractual obligations.

- Main points of interest and preliminary analysis –

In response to the COVID-19 virus, Canada’s federal government has restricted non-essential travel and closed the US border. Canada’s provincial governments have enacted highly restrictive measures including mandating the closure of facilities providing recreational programs (i.e. gyms), libraries, public and private schools, licensed childcare centres, bars and restaurants, theaters, cinemas and concert venues, and the list goes on. Some provinces have also banned gatherings of more than 5 people and prohibited all non-essential businesses.

The German parliament has adopted new legislation yesterday which is expected to become law soon. This briefing summarises the changes made, as well as a number of other legal aspects we find noteworthy in current times with regard to the real estate sector.

On 25 March 2020, the German Parliament (Bundestag) passed, in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic, significant changes in law (the “New Law”). These changes are subject to approval by the Federal Council (Bundesrat), which, however, is expected to be granted soon.

One of the key issues facing all public companies during the COVID-19 crisis is how and when to update necessary market disclosures relating to the risk impact of the pandemic on their business.

History has taught us that prolonged periods of market volatility increase the risks of litigation against both companies and their governing boards, and that the way in which they act now can have long-lasting effects.

Some companies may face severe solvency issues, which will lead to questions around the disclosure of the company’s financial position.