A week is often described as a long time in politics, and so also (it seems) with the restructuring market.

Last week, we saw significant strides forward with:

The restructuring market has been eagerly anticipating the judgments in the New Look and Regis CVA challenges. The New Look judgment was handed down on 10 May 2021 and the Regis Judgment followed on 17 May 2021. This article briefly sets out the issues in the New Look CVA challenge, the decision of Mr Justice Zacaroli and what this means for the future of CVAs.

Overview of the New Look CVA Challenge

The claim brought by the Applicants (a consortium of compromised landlords) can be summarised briefly under three heads of claim:

Employees working for an insolvent company will have to be given at least 30 days’ notice of redundancy under new legislative reforms to be introduced by the Government. The proposal is part of a new Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment Action Plan to boost the rights of employees hit by insolvency.

Currently, collective redundancies cannot take effect until after a statutory 30 day period of notification to employees. This does not apply to collective redundancies triggered by insolvency but the Government is now planning to remove that exemption.

The media is brimming with articles on the rise of cryptocurrencies and digital assets. Whether it’s news on the rising value of Bitcoin, the acquisition of digital art for large amounts of money, the release of the latest Kings of Leon album as an NFT (non fungible token), or articles on people who have invested in cryptocurrency scams, crypto assets are taking center stage.

• A veszélyhelyzeti jogalkotás részeként a napokban kihirdetésre került egy több rendeletből álló jogszabálycsomag[1], amelynek egyik fő eleme a veszélyhelyzet során a vállalkozások reorganizációjáról szóló 179/2021. (IV. 16.) Korm. rendelet („Reorganizációs Rendelet”).

The UK Restructuring Plan took its first foray down the well-trodden path of lease restructuring over the last week. The Restructuring Plan has been used through to court sanction in five cases so far: however, none has sought to compromise landlord claims, the preferred tool for which has until now been the CVA.

Volatile commodity prices in 2020 led to the bankruptcy of many oil and gas producers. While some analysts expect oil and gas prices to rise during 2021, the US Energy Information Administration’s 2021 annual outlook advises that a return to 2019 levels of US energy consumption will take years.[2]

The new Part 26A Companies Act Restructuring Plan procedure, dubbed the “Super Scheme”, (summarised here) was gathering pace in the English courts since its introduction in June last year. Last week’s judgment in gategroup presents a potential speed bump in terms of its implementation as the restructuring tool of choice in European cross-border restructurings.

By judgment of 26 January 2021 (docket number: 3 AZR 878/16, 3 AZR 878/17) the Federal Labour Court (Bundesarbeitsgericht – BAG) has ruled that the acquirer of an insolvent company is only liable for vested entitlements and claims to occupational pension that had been earned after the opening of insolvency proceedings. He is not liable for the pension based on periods before, even if the German Insolvency Protection Fund (PSV) does not fully cover this part of the pension.

Facts / Background:

知的財産法：改正個人情報保護法に関する動き 競争法／独禁法①：公取委、フランチャイズ・ガイドライン改正案の公表 競争法／独禁法②：ドイツ競争法の重要な改正 エネルギー・インフラ：発電側基本料金制度に関する続報 労働法：「男性の育児休業取得促進策等について」の建議について 会社法：会社法施行規則及び会社計算規則の一部改正－定時株主総会におけるウェブ開示によるみなし提供制度の対象範囲の拡大特例－ 危機管理：日本監査役協会が「企業集団における不祥事防止を切り口とした監査体制強化の在り方」を公表 一般民事・債権管理：「事業者を支える融資・再生実務のあり方に関する研究会」による論点整理の公表（新たな担保権「事業成長担保権（仮称）」の提言） M&A：中小企業庁、産業競争力強化法等の一部を改正する等の法律案の概要を公表 ファイナンス・ディスクロージャー：経済産業省「事業報告等と有価証券報告書の一体的開示FAQ（制度編）」 税務：国税庁、「在宅勤務に係る費用負担等に関するFAQ（源泉所得税関係）」を公表 中国・アジア（中国）：「外国の法律及び措置の不当な域外適用の阻止に関する規則」の公布 新興国（UAE）：オンショアの外資規制緩和を含む会社法の改正 国際訴訟・仲裁：ICC、SIAC等の近時の動向