A much-anticipated UK decision confirms directors' obligations to creditors, but changes little in practice

A recent Hong Kong Court of Appeal decision examined a creditor’s right to commence bankruptcy/insolvency proceedings where the petition debt arises from an agreement containing an exclusive jurisdiction clause in favour of a foreign court: Guy Kwok-Hung Lam v Tor Asia Credit Master Fund LP [2022] HKCA 1297.

The Act n 16/2022, dated September 5, on the reform of the Recast Insolvency Act, published on September 6, 2022, brings deep and major changes to the existing legislation.

The amendment will come into force on September 26, 2022, twenty days after its publication, and affect both proceedings commencing after entry into force of the legislation and a few parts of proceedings that had commenced earlier.

The differences between the original bill and the approved insolvency reform are shown in the compared version available here.

El 6 de septiembre se ha publicado en el Boletn Oficial del Estado la Ley 16/2022, de 5 de septiembre, de reforma del Texto Refundido de la Ley Concursal, que trae consigo importantes y profundas modificaciones en la norma vigente.

La modificacin entrar en vigor el 26 de septiembre de 2022, a los veinte das desde su publicacin, y afectar tanto a los procedimientos que se inicien tras la entrada en vigor de la norma como a algunas partes de aquellos que se hubieran abierto con anterioridad.

The Spanish government has very recently approved a reform of the Spanish Insolvency Law, which will enter into effect within 20 days of its publication in the Spanish Official State Journal (Boletín Oficial del Estado), except for the third book of the restated Spanish Insolvency Law, which will enter into effect on 1 January 2023.

Hace unos días se aprobó la reforma de la Ley Concursal, que entrará en vigor a los veinte días de su publicación en el «Boletín Oficial del Estado», con excepción del libro tercero del texto refundido de la Ley Concursal, que entrará en vigor el 1 de enero de 2023.

In The Australian Sawmilling Company Pty Ltd (in liq) v Environment Protection Authority [2021] VSCA 294 (Australian Sawmilling), the Victorian Supreme Court of Appeal (VSCA) dismissed an appeal by the liquidators of The Australian Sawmilling Company Pty Ltd (TASCO) against a decision of Garde J of the Victorian Supreme Court (VSC) setting aside the liquidators’ disclaimer of land subject to significant environmental ‘clean up’ costs (Primary Judgment).

The Court of Appeal has held that a settlement agreement between a bank and a group of companies which included releases of the parties’ affiliates prevented the companies from later pursuing claims against their own affiliates. Those affiliates were held to include former administrators appointed by the bank and the administrators’ solicitors: Schofield v Smith [2022] EWCA Civ 824.

Historically, the Hong Kong courts have generally recognised foreign insolvency proceedings commenced in the jurisdiction in which the company is incorporated. This may no longer be the case in Hong Kong following the recent decision of Provisional Liquidator of Global Brands Group Holding Ltd v Computershare Hong Kong Trustees Ltd [2022] HKCFI 1789 (Global Brands).

Los juzgados de primera instancia conocerán, entre otras, de las acciones colectivas previstas en la legislación sobre condiciones generales de la contratación y en la legislación sobre defensa de consumidores y usuarios.