The Corporate Insolvency and Governance Bill was published on 20 May 2020 and went through an accelerated parliamentary process, receiving Royal Assent on 25 June 2020 (with the provisions coming into force on 26 June 2020).
The Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 (“CIGA”) introduces a mixture of permanent and temporary “debtor friendly” measures to restructuring and insolvency law in England and Wales and in Scotland, jurisdictions which have historically been viewed as being “creditor friendly”.
Despite the scale of the pandemic and resulting build-up of Covid related rent arrears, currently estimated at around £4.5bn, business restructuring has been relatively muted. This is partly explained by the moratorium on forfeiture and other restrictions on landlords’ remedies, combined with unprecedented government financial support for struggling businesses.
But rent arrears cannot be pushed down the track indefinitely. As restrictions are eased and focus turns to tackling this debt, business restructuring activity will no doubt intensify.
A recent pair of decisions of the Hong Kong Companies Court (the “Court”) has immense potential significance for debtor companies listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (“HKEx”) and their Hong Kong creditors.
Facts
Re Lamtex Holdings Ltd [2021] HKCFI 622 and Re Ping An Securities Group (Holdings) Ltd [2021] HKCFI 651 both involved a familiar factual scenario:
A recent decision illustrates the court’s approach to providing non-party access to documents referred to at a public hearing, in the context of a proposed scheme of arrangement: Re Port Finance Investment Ltd [2021] EWHC 454 (Ch).
El Real Decreto-ley 5/2021, de 12 de marzo, de medidas extraordinarias de apoyo a la solvencia empresarial en respuesta a la pandemia del Covid-19, se ha aprobado con el fin de proteger el tejido productivo y evitar un impacto estructural sobre la economía tras la significativa reducción de ingresos de muchas empresas y autónomos. |
Companies planning to resist a winding up petition and seek an adjournment on the ground of progressing a restructuring plan are reminded to produce timely and sufficient evidence in support of their application for an adjournment, in particular evidence of creditors’ support, provides the Hong Kong Companies Court (Court) in Re Founder Information (Hong Kong) Limited [2021] HKCFI 311.
From 31 December 2020, the European Regulation on Insolvency Proceedings (the “EIR”) ceased to apply in the UK. As a result:
On 1 January 2021, an Amendment to the Czech Act on Business Corporations came into effect, which introduced changes in the area of corporate governance. These include changes to the liability of statutory body members in case of corporate insolvency, and changes to the conditions for disqualification of statutory body members from the performance of their office or from serving as shadow directors.
Liability of statutory body members in the event of corporate insolvency
In response to the economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, lawmakers very quickly started working on improving the legal framework to enhance existing and develop new restructuring instruments. Contrary to expectations, not that many restructurings actually took place in 2020, likely because of support made available to businesses.
INSURANCE AND REINSURANCE DISPUTES
2020 REVIEW
The contents of this publication are for reference purposes only. They do not constitute legal advice and should not be relied upon as such. Specific legal advice about your specific circumstances should always be sought separately before taking any action based on this publication.
INSURANCE AND REINSURANCE DISPUTES 2020 REVIEW
Contents
Preface