Three recent court decisions address the scope and limits of bankruptcy injunctions barring future asbestos claims. The decisions – from the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, a Maryland bankruptcy court, and the Montana Supreme Court – underscore that (i) broad notice of proposed injunctions is critical and (ii) channeling injunctions under § 524(g) of the Bankruptcy Code apply only to liabilities that are derivative of the debtor’s liabilities, not to a company’s own liabilities.

On 14 March 2020, the Croatian Ministry of Justice issued recommendations to prevent the transmission of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and control the pandemic ("Measures"). The Measures are applicable until 1 April 2020. The Measures advise temporary adjustments to legal requirements in civil, insolvency and criminal procedure law to avoid hardship that would otherwise arise as a result of the coronavirus crisis.

With the aim of further mitigating the negative effects of the crisis on companies and private individuals, the Measures advise the following:

In these unprecedented times, the U.K. government is seeking to preserve U.K. businesses and has already introduced significant measures to achieve that aim, including:

States across the country have enacted so-called “reviver” statutes allowing otherwise time-barred claims for childhood sexual abuse to proceed. The statutes vary by jurisdiction, but generally do one of three things: (1) eliminate the statute of limitations for such claims; (2) extend the statute of limitations for such claims; or (3) create a window (e.g., a period of a few years) in which otherwise time-barred claims can be filed.

Only two asbestos bankruptcy cases were filed in 2019 – the lowest number in any one year since Congress enacted the special asbestos bankruptcy trust/channeling injunction statute, Section 524(g) of the Bankruptcy Code.

The Act of February 13, 1998 (the Renault Act) sets out the rules and procedure all employers from the private sector need to follow in case of restructuring. The rules have not been modified since the Act’s adoption (which was largely prompted by the closing of the Renault factory in 1997, causing the redundancy of 3,100 employees).

More than 20 years have passed. An update is due.

Shareholders of Austrian limited liability companies usually want to have influence over whom they are associated with. That's why shareholders often agree on a pre-emptive right (Aufgriffsrecht) to purchase existing shares in certain cases, e.g. in case of insolvency proceedings against a shareholder. However, according to the recent case law of the Regional Court of Linz on limited liability companies, pre-emptive rights to purchase the shares of an insolvent shareholder are invalid and unenforceable.

Know your co-shareholders

The Austrian Supreme Court has recently found that insolvency related avoidance claims can be sold. This may open a whole new business segment and will most certainly have a material impact on defendants in avoidance proceedings.

Assignability of insolvency related avoidance claims

A financial crisis and situations where insolvency is imminent are not only challenging for a company and its management, but also entail significant liability risks for management in the case of subsequent insolvency proceedings. Payments made after a company has become materially insolvent (i.e. illiquid or overindebted under Austrian insolvency law), but before the 60-day deadline for filing for insolvency has expired, are risky. Which payments are allowed according to the Austrian Supreme Court?

Scope of liability

The list of successful restructurings outside insolvency proceedings is as long as it is confidential. Every year, companies of all sizes are stabilised and sustainably restructured without the stigma of insolvency proceedings. However, until now there has been no European legal framework for pre-insolvency restructurings and only a few national laws explicitly provide for the possibility of such preventive restructurings. This will change now.