After a delay of more than a year, an act on preventive restructuring (the "Act") implementing the EU directive on preventive restructuring frameworks finally became effective in the Czech Republic on 23 September 2023. The long-awaited Act introduces a brand-new legal tool preventing the insolvency of viable enterprises in temporary financial distress.

What is preventive restructuring and why use it?

"Bulgaria transposed the Restructuring Directive's prohibition to terminate contracts via ipso facto clauses, but also (deviating from the Directive) prohibited contractual set-off in restructuring, thus rendering the preservation of many contracts performed via contractual set-off / netting of payment meaningless. So, in drafting ipso facto clauses the impossibility to perform contracts in restructuring, due to the contractual set-off prohibition, may be utilised as an additional trigger for termination, now".

Hill Dickinson’s Hong Kong Commercial and Insolvency Disputes team acted for the successful respondent in Guy Kwok-Hung Lam (Respondent) -v- Tor Asia Credit Master Fund LP (Appellant) Final Appeal No.13 of 2022 (on appeal from CACV No. 393 of 2021 [2023] HKCFA 9).

Could a director of an insolvent company, who was held to be in breach of his directorial duties, be ordered to draw down his personal pension benefits to pay a judgment debt?

NFTs are a hot topic, but their treatment under insolvency law – which will receive more attention due to the recent crisis – has not yet been explored in much detail. This contribution aims to provide a brief overview of the most relevant issues.

NFTs as collateral

Due to their clear structure and organisation, insolvency proceedings are ideally suited for digitalisation processes. It is therefore more than surprising that despite Austria's pioneering role in the digitalisation of the justice system with its Justice 3.0 project, there has been no significant development in the expansion of digitalisation in insolvency proceedings since the early 2000s. The situation is different in Croatia, however, where the new Insolvency Act came into force in 2015 and was used as an opportunity to open the path towards digitisation.

In a recent decision Chandler -v- Wright [2022] EWHC 2205 (Ch) - Mr Justice Edwin Johnson in the High Court has found that myriad claims against the former directors of the retailer BHS fall to be struck out in the context of the high-value, complex litigation being brought by the joint liquidators of the BHS companies against the former directors of those companies.

New fees are soon to be introduced by The Insolvency Service in respect of the insolvency deposit required to commence a creditor’s bankruptcy petition and winding-up petition which will make it harder for many businesses to collect their debts.

The Hong Kong commercial and insolvency disputes team acted for the successful appellant in Guy Kwok-Hung Lam -v- Tor Asia Credit Master Fund LP CACV 393/2021 [2022] HKCA 1297.

The Hong Kong commercial and insolvency disputes team acted for the successful appellant in Guy Kwok-Hung Lam -v- Tor Asia Credit Master Fund LP CACV 393/2021 [2022] HKCA 1297.