On 1 June 2016 the Victorian Court of Appeal delivered its judgment in Timbercorp Finance Pty Ltd (In Liquidation) (Timbercorp) v Collins (Collins) and Tomes (Tomes) [2016] VSCA 128, the latest in a string of Timbercorp cases.

The latest decision was preceded by a class action which went all the way to the High Court in which the investors lost their claim against Timbercorp for misleading representations.

En los años de mayor crisis económica se dispararon las compraventas de unidades productivas autónomas en el marco de procedimientos concursales. La Ley Concursal regulaba estas compraventas permitiendo a los adjudicatarios reflotar un negocio minorando las cargas acumuladas hasta el momento del concurso.Uno de los debates en estas situaciones es el alcance de la responsabilidad de la empresa adjudicataria sobre las obligaciones laborales de los trabajadores afectos a la unidad productiva autónoma.

1.                 BACKGROUND

Judgment of the Court of Appeal of Porto of February 15, 2016

By its much anticipated yet hardly surprising judgment in Forge Group Power Pty Limited (in liquidation)(receivers and managers appointed) v General Electric International Inc  [2016] NSWSC 52, the Supreme Court of New South Wales has again shone a bright light on the importance of perfection of security interests under the PPSA, and the dramatic consequences that follow for failing to do so by reason of the PPSA vesting rules.  Indeed, the failure to register in this case has had multi-million dollar consequences.

A credit institution appealed the ruling that approved the agreement claiming that the creditors meeting had allowed the presence and vote by a city council that, in its opinion, did not have such right because it was the holder of 100% of the share capital of the insolvent party.

This ruling resolved an issue originating from a personal and joint and several guarantee granted by two companies to secure the obligations assumed by a Dutch company under a junior financing agreement. In light of the Dutch company's default on one of its payments under that agreement, the creditor companies sued the debtor, and the court issued a resolution ordering the debtor company to pay the amount claimed.

Cuatrecasas, Gonrcalves Pereira has advised GRUPO EMPRESARIAL ALCO on submitting and processing the early composition agreement with the company's creditors, attaining the approval of the competent court within 10 months of the company's declaration of insolvency.

A company's insolvency is requested by three of its creditors whose credits originated from a syndicated financing agreement signed with other credit institutions. The three creditors seeking the insolvency request that they all be recognized a general privilege of 50% of their credits and that the entirety of their respective credits be considered in calculating this general privilege, excluding subordinated credits only.

This ruling resolves the financial creditors' challenge to the approval of a refinancing agreement extending the deferral stipulated and the modification of the margins added to the Euribor to them. As grounds for their opposition, they claim that the 75% majority of the financial liabilities necessary to extend the reduction of the applicable margin whereby, in their opinion, such reduction entailed debt relief was not present.