Introduction

The FSA has published a short update on Lifemark S.A. (Lifemark). The FSA reports that on 11 February 2010, the Luxembourg financial services regulator, the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (the CSSF), applied to the Court in Luxembourg to extend the appointment of Eric Collard of KPMG as provisional administrator in respect of Lifemark.

In the case of In the matter of Construction Confederation and In the matter of the Insolvency Act 1986 [2009] EWHC 3551 (Ch), the trustees of the Construction Confederation Staff Pension Scheme have obtained an order for winding up of the sponsoring employer, an unincorporated association.

On September 18, 2009, after years of Parliamentary delay dating back to 2005, wide-ranging amendments to Canada’s Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) and Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (BIA) (the “Amendments”) came into force, providing, among other things, new protections for licensees of intellectual property.

It is important to note that the Amendments only apply in the CCAA restructuring and BIA proposal context, and not to conventional bankruptcies or receiverships.

The FSA has published a statement that provides an update on The Freedom SIPP Limited - In Liquidation.

PricewaterhouseCoopers, liquidators of the Freedom SIPP Limited has appointed an agent to wind up the Freedom SIPP Scheme.

View Update on The Freedom SIPP Limited - In Liquidation, 29 January 2010  

Directors and officers of corporations are often subject to potential personal liabilities as a result of their positions. This potential for personal liability may be increased in the insolvency context, where a corporation’s creditors will seek to collect on certain debts from alternate sources, such as directors and officers. Directors and officers often utilize insurance and various court mechanisms in order to mitigate their personal liabilities.

Summary

In an exciting week for insolvency, the Minister for Financial Services, Superannuation and Corporate Law has released a package of reforms to Australia’s corporate insolvency laws. This reform package includes:

On 9 October 2009, a three-judge panel of the Supreme Court issued a judgment (file no. IV CSK 145/09), in which it ruled that the Polish legal system provides for the possibility to secure claims under a parallel debt (created under foreign law).

Facts of the case

In May 2009, the Treasury published a discussion paper entitled Developing effective resolution arrangements for investment banks. In this discussion paper the Treasury set out its initial thinking on the steps necessary to improve the regime around the failure of investment firms.

On Monday 14 December 2009 the Dubai Financial Support Fund received a further US$10bn from the Abu Dhabi Government to be used to satisfy a series of upcoming obligations of Dubai World and its subsidiaries (“DWG”). The monies were used in part to pay off the Nakheel sukuk which matured on the same day. The markets in the region (and elsewhere) reacted positively with significant gains and Dubai's CDS spreads narrowed. That same afternoon the Dubai Government announced a new law (Decree No. 57). Sheikh Ahmad Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Dubai Supreme Fiscal Committee, said: