Introduction
On 12 June 2025, the Council of the EU announced that member states have agreed on a general approach to a directive aimed at bringing national insolvency standards closer together. This draft directive is designed to make the EU more attractive to foreign and cross-border investors by reducing the legal uncertainties and complexities associated with differing national insolvency laws.
The Protection of Employees (Employers’ Insolvency) (Amendment) Bill 2025 aims to provide greater protection to employees where their employer becomes insolvent. The Bill will allow greater access to a Social Insurance Fund to protect employee pay-related entitlements and claims for historic entitlements over the previous 40 years. The devil is in the detail, however, with very specific caps and limitations.
The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (“IBC”), was enacted to inter alia provide a consolidated framework to resolve insolvency in a time-bound manner and to maximise the value of assets. This objective is further aided by a moratorium under Section 14 that halts legal proceedings against the corporate debtor, and the immunity provision under Section 32A, which offers a fresh slate to resolution applicants upon plan approval.
Introduction
With Directive (EU) 2019/1023, the European Union has created a uniform framework for pre-insolvency restructuring measures. The goal is to enable companies in financial difficulties to restructure at an early stage, thereby avoiding insolvency and preserving jobs. In Germany, the Directive was essentially implemented through the Act on the Stabilization and Restructuring Framework for Enterprises (StaRUG), which entered into force on 1 January 2021.
Objectives of the Directive and the German Legislator
Introduction
On 20 May 2025, Mr Justice Marcus Smith handed down his eagerly-awaited judgment sanctioning the two inter-conditional restructuring plans (the Plans) proposed by members of the Petrofac Group. The judgment raises issues described as “going to the heart of the Part 26A regime” and is significant as the first case to consider the application of the Court of Appeal’s ruling in Thames Water.
The judgment addresses three particularly interesting points:
1 2 Capital Market 9 Dispute Resolution 14 Fintech 19 Media and Entertainment 24 RERA 27 Sports and Gaming 39 White Collar Crime 03 Competition Law 11 Employment Law 17 International Trade/ WTO 19 MCA 25 Restructuring and Insolvency 34 Technology 40 3 EXTENSION OF TIMELINE FOR FORMULATION OF IMPLEMENTATION STANDARDS PERTAINING TO SEBI CIRCULAR ON “SAFER PARTICIPATION OF RETAIL INVESTORS IN ALGORITHMIC TRADING”1 Securities Exchange Board of India (“SEBI”) issued a circular “Safer participation of retail investors in algorithmic trading” dated February 04, 2025, which aimed at ensuring safer
On 27th March 2025, the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) delivered a ruling in the case Matthäus Metzler, acting as insolvency practitioner in insolvency proceedings vs. Auto1 European Cars BV (Case C‑186/24) concerning the interpretation of Article 31(1) of Regulation (EU) 2015/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 2015 on insolvency proceedings (the “Insolvency Regulation”).
On 8 April 2025, Mr Justice Marcus Smith delivered judgment granting Petrofac Limited and Petrofac International (UAE) LLC (the Plan Companies) permission to convene creditor meetings in respect of two inter-conditional restructuring Plans (the Plans). The fulsome judgment, following hearings on 28 February and 20 March, contains a number of interesting points: