On 7 December 2018, Serbian Parliament passed yet another Act on Amendments of Bankruptcy Law that will be applicable as of 1 January 2019.

These changes make the third change of the Bankruptcy Law in less then a year.

On 18 December 2018 the English Court of Appeal held in the case of OJSC International Bank of Azerbaijan that the rule in Gibbs is still a fundamental tenet of English insolvency law and not to be sidestepped by the Cross-Border Insolvency Regulations.

Facts

The facts in summary are these:

In yet another example of the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) making its company and insolvency law even more versatile, the DIFC has introduced a mechanism which will operate in a similar manner to a scheme of arrangement under English law. The law came into effect on 12 November 2018.

Key terms

In September 2018 the Dubai International Financial Centre Authority (“DIFCA”) announced that it proposes to replace its current insolvency law with a new law to update the insolvency regime in the Dubai International Financial Centre (“DIFC”) and that it has launched a consultation in relation to the same.

Why are changes proposed?

The Ministry of Commerce issued a Communiqué on 15 September 2018 ("Communiqué") setting out the principles and procedures pertaining to the application of Article 376 of the Turkish Commercial Code ("TCC"). In brief, Article 376 regulates the measures to be adopted by joint stock companies and limited liability companies (for the purposes of this article, each a "company") in cases of loss of capital or insolvency.

In the recent decision of Michael J Lonsdale (Electrical) Limited v Bresco Electrical Services Limited (In Liquidation) [2018] EWHC 2043 (TCC), Fraser J found that parties cannot resolve their disputes by means of adjudication where a company in liquidation and its counterparty both claim a pre-liquidation entitlement to payment of money by the other.

Over the Bank holiday weekend, the UK government announced that it intends to introduce new legislation to implement certain measures (detailed below) as soon as parliamentary time permits.

On 15 January 2018, the UK’s second largest contractor filed for compulsory liquidation.

Shortly after, the Insolvency Service reported that there had been 2,668 insolvencies in the construction sector in the twelve months ended Q1 2018—more than any other sector.

In an important new English Court of Appeal judgment in LBI EHF v Raiffeisen Bank International AG [2018] EWCA Civ 719 (11 April 2018), Lord Justice Flaux approved and expanded the earlier High Court judgment of Mr Justice Knowles CBE in LBI EHF (in winding up) v Raiffeisen Zentralbank Osterreich [2017] EWHC 522 (Comm) (20 March 2017) on the correct meaning and treatment of t

Introduction

Law No 7101 on Amendments to the Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law and Other Laws (“Law No 7101”) has been published in the Official Gazette dated 15 March 2018. Law No 7101 i) abolishes the postponement of bankruptcy procedures, ii) introduces a new composition procedure for insolvent companies and iii) improves secured creditors’ rights in bankruptcy.

Lifting of Postponement of Bankruptcy