The English Court refused an application by Liquidators to stay English proceedings pending the outcome of similar proceedings in the US.

The Joint Liquidators of a Luxembourg company ("the Company") applied to stay English proceedings that they had brought against private equity investors ("the Defendants") until similar proceedings in the US had been resolved, or for three months to enable the Liquidators to raise finance for the litigation.

The English Court granted recognition of Chapter 11 proceedings in relation to a company that was incorporated in the UK but had its centre of main interests ("COMI") in the United States, confirming that the Directors were foreign representatives for the purpose of the Cross Border Insolvency Regulations 2006 ("the Regulations").

The UK Commercial Court has dismissed the Claimant's application for a stay under Article 28 of the Judgments Regulation.

On 23 June 2016, a 52% majority of the British people voted in favour of leaving the European Union. It is unclear the extent of the effect this will have, but restructuring and insolvency professionals face an uncertain future if the EC Regulation on Insolvency Proceedings 2000 and the Recast Insolvency Regulation, which replaces it in 2017, cease to apply to cross border restructurings in the UK.

Chapter 15 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, 11 U.S.C. §§ 1501 et seq., provides the legal framework by which U.S. bankruptcy courts recognize foreign insolvency proceedings of companies that have assets and operations in more than one country. Congress added Chapter 15 to the Bankruptcy Code with the enactment of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005. Like any new law, the application and limits of Chapter 15 are developing through jurisprudence.

This appeal is from an order by a district court in California, affirming a bankruptcy court’s denial of a motion to compel arbitration in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy trustee’s adversary proceeding, in which the trustee sought avoidance of fraudulent transfers.

Short stories

Amendments to the Czech Insolvency Act 2016

Further to our updates in December and January, there has been a further development in relation to this case. The High Court heard the second adjourned hearing of the bankruptcy petition in relation to Glenn Maud.

The Court of Appeal has considered the High Court's previous refusal to lift the automatic stay imposed by Article 20 of the Cross-Border Insolvency Regulations 2006 ("Model Law").

The UK is a well-established jurisdiction for cross border insolvencies, both within the EU and the rest of the world. The main piece of EU legislation that governs this area of law is the EC Council Regulation 1346/2000 ("the Insolvency Regulation"). Ultimately, this legislation facilitates the recognition of insolvency proceedings that span multiple jurisdictions. The Insolvency Regulation sets out the correct jurisdiction in cross border situations and, crucially, makes it mandatory for Member States to recognise insolvency proceedings in other EU countries.