Introduction |
In a recent judgment the Irish High Court for the first time confirmed as “good law” in Ireland the approach taken by the English courts to the circumstances in which a transaction, documented as a sale of receivables, may be re-characterised as a secured loan. Invoice discounting, factoring and similar receivables financing products are important sources of working capital finance for SMEs and are increasingly a funding tool offered by alternative lenders.
Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) in its meeting today has taken decisions that will make M&A and private investment in public equity (PIPE) transactions easier.
Open Offer Exemption for Distressed Public M&A
Introduction
The term ‘dispute’ assumes great importance under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (Code). This is because under Section 9(5)(ii)(d) of the Code, an operational creditor’s application for initiating corporate insolvency is liable to be rejected if a ‘notice of dispute’ in relation to ‘existence of a dispute’ is received by such an operational creditor from a corporate debtor. The term ‘dispute’ is defined in Section 5(6) and referred to in Section 8(2) of the Code in the following manner:
In a significant judgment, the High Court has held that there is no bar on a personal insolvency arrangement including a split-mortgage. The court also held that while a Personal Insolvency Practitioner is required to have regard to a creditor’s proposed solution for resolution of mortgage debt (eg a split-mortgage), the PIP will not be acting unreasonably by failing to adopt that solution and instead adopting another reasonable solution (eg debt write-down).
On 5 May 2017, a day after the recent Banking Regulation (Amendment) Ordinance, 2017 (Ordinance) received Presidential assent, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued a circular on ‘Timelines for Stressed Assets Resolution’ (Circular). The Circular amends the existing “Framework for Revitalising Distressed Assets in the Economy – Guidelines on JLF and CAP” dated 26 February 2014 (JLF Framework) and mandates members of a joint lenders forum (JLF) to follow strict timelines in implementing the corrective action plan (CAP) or suffer penal consequences for non-compliance.
The Irish Government has confirmed that the long-heralded Order to give effect to the “Alternative A” insolvency provisions of the Aircraft Protocol to the Cape Town Convention has been signed. While the Order has not yet been published, the Government announcement, made on 10 May 2017, states that the change in law has immediate effect.
Background
Set out below is a short update on the Banking Regulation (Amendment) Ordinance, 2017 issued by the Government of India yesterday (Ordinance) inter alia empowering the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to intervene and issue directions to banks for resolution of stressed assets. The Government has promulgated the Ordinance with immediate effect, instead of waiting for an enactment to be passed by Parliament, which could at the earliest, have been possible only in the next parliamentary session in July 2017.
Background