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On December 31, 2024, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued its long awaited opinion in the disputes arising from the controversial “uptier” transaction executed by Serta Simmons Bedding, L.L.C. (“Serta”) in 2020 and the confirmation of Serta’s chapter 11 plan by the Southern District of Texas Bankruptcy Court in 2023. The Fifth Circuit reversed former Bankruptcy Judge David Jones’ summary judgment ruling that the 2020 uptier transaction was permissible under Serta’s existing credit agreements.

The Delaware Chancery Court placed Arrowood Indemnity Company in liquidation on November 8, 2023, by a liquidation order. The court found Arrowood to be insolvent by the court, and appointed a receiver to liquidate Arrowood’s assets, evaluate any claims made against Arrowood and evaluate the payment of claims made against it.

Background

In the twelfth edition of the Going concerns, we cover set-offs and the net result of a creditor dealing with a company in liquidation; the first cross-border pre-pack scheme filed in the Singapore International Commercial Court ("SICC") by a foreign unregistered company that has been successfully sanctioned in Singapore: Re No Va Land Investment Group Corporation [2024] SGHC(I) 17 ("No Va Land"); and UAE's new bankruptcy law that came into effect on 1 May 2024, a relatively substantial overhaul of the onshore insolvency and restructuring regime in the UAE.

En 2023, le nombre de défaillances d’entreprises est en hausse par rapport à l’année précédente. À cela s’ajoutent le rallongement des délais de paiement, l’inflation, des taux d’intérêt toujours élevés...À la lumière dececlimat monétaire et financier instable se profile la gestion du risque crédit.

In this eleventh edition of the Going concerns, we touch upon the clarity provided by the Singapore Court of Appeal in the recognition of foreign solvent liquidations in Singapore, a potential new tool against debtors defrauding creditors, and an update on the sanction of an administrative convenience class in the Singapore High Court.

We hope you enjoyed this edition of the Going concerns and we look forward to your continued support in the coming editions of the same. As usual, please feel free to contact us should you like to learn more on any topic.

Content

Introduction

A recent Commercial Court decision has raised an intriguing question of private international law: can a foreign judgment be enforced in England and Wales if it is not enforceable in the country where it was given?

The Commercial Chamber of the French Supreme Court ("Cour de cassation") has recently handed down a decision of particular interest for distressed M&A transactions: Cass. com. 1er mars 2023, no. 21-14.787, FS-B.

Alexandre Koenig, partner and head of the firm's restructuring and insolvency practice in France analyses the legal and practical consequences of this decision for sellers of French distressed companies.

Context

简介

最近在Re Guy Kwok-Hung Lam [2023] HKCFA 9一案中,香港终审法院澄清,如果受争议的呈请债务所涉及的协议载有专属司法管辖权条款(「专属条款」),法院应如何处理清盘及破产呈请。

案情

上诉人于2017年与CP Global Inc(「该公司」)及答辩人订立了一份信贷及担保协议(「信贷协议」)。据此,上诉人向该公司提供定期贷款,答辩人就该公司结欠上诉人的所有款项提供个人担保。信贷协议载有专属条款,就该协议所产生或与之有关的所有法律程序赋予纽约法院专属司法管辖权。

于2020年,上诉人认为发生了信贷协议所指的违约事件,故要求答辩人支付信贷协议项下的未偿还本金及利息。答辩人未有按上诉人的要求还款,因此上诉人在香港针对答辩人展开破产法律程序。另一方面,答辩人在纽约提起诉讼,请求法院求宣告并无发生信贷协议下的违约事件。

答辩人反对在香港提出破产呈请的主要理由之一,是专属条款规定上诉人须首先在纽约法院就双方争议进行诉讼,然后才可在香港展开破产程序。