In Vizcaya Partners Ltd v Picard and another, the Privy Council recently held that anagreement to submit to the jurisdiction of a foreign court can arise through an implied term but there must be actual agreement (or consent). However, simply agreeing that an agreement should be governed by foreign law did not amount to agreement to the corresponding jurisdiction.

Con la reforma del artículo 90.1.6.º de la Ley Concursal (LCon) dispuesta por la Ley 40/2015 se generalizó un casi entusiasta clamor entre los operadores del sector. Se consideraba que quedaba definitivamente resuelto el perverso historial con- cursal de las prendas sobre créditos futuros. Yo no lo veo tan claro y puedo imaginarme más de un modo por el que un juez concursal averso a este tipo de garantías puede arruinar aquel entusiasmo por vía de una interpretación no totalmente absurda del precepto nuevo.

The amendment to art. 90(1)(6) of the Insolvency Act 22/2003 (abbrev. LCON) by the Public Sector (Legal Regime) Act 40/2015 was welcomed almost enthusiastically by most market agents. It was felt that the inconsistent treatment bestowed on pledges of future claims (hereinafter, ‘PFC’) would finally be a thing of the past. I myself am not altogether convinced that this is the case, being able to envisage more than one way an insolvency judge, averse to this type of security interests, can dampen the aforementioned enthusiasm by way of a not overly absurd interpretation of the new provision.

Privilege bestowed on (syndicated) creditors instigating the insolvency proceedings against the debtor

Preamble

Equality among all creditors (the so-called par conditio creditorum) is a basic principle under Spanish insolvency rules. Only specific exceptions envisaged in the Spanish insolvency law allow for a particular creditor to take precedence over others in the recovery of its claims against the debtor.

Generally speaking, the following ranking applies to insolvency claims (excluding predeductible claims):

Análisis GA&P | Febrero 2016 1 N. de la C.: En las citas literales se ha rectificado en lo posible —sin afectar al sentido— la grafía de ciertos elementos (acentos, mayúsculas, símbolos, abreviaturas, cursivas...) para adecuarlos a las normas tipográficas utilizadas en el resto del texto. Ante las dificultades competenciales y materiales en asuntos derivados del concurso de acreedores, siempre resultan sumamente interesantes las conclusiones alcanzadas por jueces o magistrados especialistas en materia mercantil en sus diferentes reuniones periódicas.

Analysis GA&P | February 2016 1 Given the jurisdictional and material difficulties arising in the context of insolvency proceedings, the conclusions reached by judges specialised in corporate and commercial matters, in their various regular meetings, are invariably of tremendous interest. The recent conference held in Pamplona at the beginning of last November was no exception, particularly so, as far as this paper is concerned, in relation to the employment and Social Security aspects of a production unit transfer. As is well known, the referral of arts.

The Court of Appeal has recently considered whether an LPA Receiver owes a duty of care to a bankrupt mortgagor in connection with the way the Receiver deals with the mortgaged property. In a decision which will be welcomed by Receivers and their insurers, the court decided that a Receiver owes no such duties.

The facts

Earlier in April last year, we wrote an article on the insolvency exemption to the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO). Insolvency practitioners will be disappointed to hear that it has now been confirmed that the exemption will be lifted later this year.  

An update on recent changes

1 October 2015 – A day of changes to insolvency law

The start of October 2015 brought about important changes in insolvency law, affecting both creditors and debtors alike. The most notable changes are detailed below.

Harmonising office holder claims in administration  and  liquidation

The High Court has granted three insolvent Cayman companies (each in liquidation) a worldwide freezing order in support of proceedings against Mr Terrill, an individual who operated behind the companies' respective corporate directors as their sole director and shareholder.  The court exercised its discretion to grant the injunction despite there being a delay of more than a year between the discovery of suspicious transactions linked to Mr Terrill and a Letter of Request applying for a freezing order being sent by the Cayman court together with the companies' liquidators to the Englis