In response to the COVID-10 pandemic, the German legislator enacted a new law to suspend the mandatory obligations to file for insolvency proceedings and to mitigate liability risks for managing directors and creditors. According to the "Act to Mitigate the Consequences of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Civil, Insolvency and Criminal Procedural Law", the obligation to file for insolvency proceedings is suspended on a temporary basis for companies facing an insolvency due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On April 3, 2020, the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) re-issued and extended General License No. 13E (“GL 13E”) to continue the validity period for transactions concerning Nynas AB and its subsidiaries (“Nynas”) that otherwise would be prohibited under Executive Order 13850 or Executive Order 13884 given Nynas’s 50% indirect ownership by Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. (“PdVSA”).

The Singapore Ministry of Law will introduce the COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) Bill (the Bill) in Parliament next week to address the impact of COVID-19 on businesses and individuals' ability to fulfil their contractual obligations. The Bill will also make some temporary changes relating to bankruptcy and insolvency.

The Bill will apply to various categories of contracts, including:

The Australian Federal Court has made orders relieving the administrators of retailer Colette from personal liability for rent in response to the COVID-19 crisis and the current uncertainty in respect of government policy about rent relief for tenants: see

What you need to know

The voluntary administration procedure in the Corporations Act was introduced in 1993. Prior to this, the only formal mechanism for a company to compromise with its creditors was by a creditors’ scheme of arrangement, a process often regarded as costly, time consuming and cumbersome.

The primary objective of voluntary administration is to provide for the business, property and affairs of an insolvent company to be administered in a way that:

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect the way financial institutions address organizational and legal challenges. FIs are in a rush to address the impact – both current and emerging.

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.

Not for the first time in the current pandemic crisis, the UK government has found itself playing catch up with other countries. Over the weekend the UK followed the lead of governments in Germany and Australia by announcing plans to introduce a temporary relaxation of the existing wrongful trading regime for company directors. It has also taken the opportunity to revive the previous government's plans to add to the existing UK insolvency law "toolkit" by introducing a new debtor-friendly restructuring law.

Wrongful trading

Amendments to the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) (Corporations Act) to implement the measures announced by Treasurer Josh Frydenberg on Sunday, 22 March 2020 to provide temporary relief for financially distressed businesses due to COVID-19 have now come into effect.

The Coronavirus Economic Response Package Omnibus Act 2020 (Cth) (CERPO Act) amendments were passed by the Parliament on 2 March 2020. They will apply for a 6 month period, but may be extended or have impacts beyond that timeframe.

On March 17, 2020, the Court of Appeal of Québec (the "Court") issued an important ruling concerning "pre-post" compensation and "non-dischargeable" debts under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act (the "CCAA"), by finding that the debt of a municipality arising from an agreement entered into as part of a voluntary reimbursement program ("VRP") under the Act to ensure mainly the recovery of amounts improperly paid as a result of fraud or fraudulent tactics in connection with public contracts ("Bill 26") is unsecured debt in connection with the insolvency of a co-contra