On 3 September 2025, the Court of Appeal handed down judgment in East Riding of Yorkshire Council v KMG SICAV-SIF-GB Strategic Land Fund [2025] EWCA Civ 1137, confirming that a “dedicated fund” of a Luxembourg specialised investment company was not an “unregistered company” within the meaning of section 220 of the Insolvency Act 1986 (the “Act”), and therefore could not be wound up by the court under section 221 of the Act.
On 3 September 2025, the Court of Appeal handed down judgment in East Riding of Yorkshire Council v KMG SICAV-SIF-GB Strategic Land Fund [2025] EWCA Civ 1137, confirming that a “dedicated fund” of a Luxembourg specialised investment company was not an “unregistered company” within the meaning of section 220 of the Insolvency Act 1986 (the “Act”), and therefore could not be wound up by the court under section 221 of the Act.
Key Takeaway
Luxembourg’s law of 5 August 2005 on financial collateral arrangements, as amended (Collateral Law 2005), continues to offer strong safe-harbor protections for financial collateral arrangements and is now confirmed to apply to insolvency proceedings globally.
Recent Developments
Court of Appeal Ruling
A recent decision of the Court of Session has found that a Scottish administration can be declared as ancillary to an insolvency process in another jurisdiction. This means that the insolvency proceedings in one jurisdiction are considered as the main insolvency proceedings, while the ancillary proceedings in the other jurisdiction are restricted to dealing with the company's assets located there.
Background
In a decision delivered on 7 June 2024 (2024TALCH02/00950) (the Decision), the Luxembourg District Court provided for substantive clarifications regarding article 10 of the Luxembourg Law of 7 August 2023 on the continuation of businesses and modernisation of insolvency law (the Restructuring Law). This article empowers the Court to appoint judicial agents (mandataires de justice) in case of serious and aggravated misconduct (manquements graves et caractérisés) by the debtor or its corporate bodies, threatening the continuity of the business.
Domestic Procedures
In brief
The Act of 7 August 2023 on the preservation of businesses and the modernization of bankruptcy law, which came into force on 1 November 2023 ("Act"), has been met with great relief and enthusiasm from practitioners and businesses alike. It finally offers alternatives to the systematic bankruptcy of a company that is unable to pay its debts for lack of liquidity, despite the existence of assets or medium-term growth potential.
In this article, partner Bertrand Géradin and managing associate David Al Mari from Ogier’s Restructuring and Insolvency team in Luxembourg provide a high level summary of the enforcement mechanisms related to share pledges in Luxembourg. This article first appeared in Chambers Expert Focus Guides.
FEBRUARY 2024 mourant.com 2021934/89586498/1 UPDATE 2023’s most significant legal developments and what to look out for in 2024 Update prepared by Saniyé Tipirdamaz, Adrian Dobbyn, Eléonore Galleron, Mathieu Gangloff and Romain Bordage (Luxembourg) In 2023, in Luxembourg, we witnessed a number of significant legal developments in the areas of Banking & Finance, Restructuring & Insolvency, Corporate, Investment Funds and Tax. In 2024, new legislation which will impact upon businesses and their investment strategies are expected to be introduced.
While there is a certain alignment between the proposed EU Directive on harmonisation of insolvency law and Luxembourg law, Luxembourg legislation will a priori need to be amended on several key points to be in line with the Proposal.
Preferences
Rules governing the avoidance of preferences (article 6 of the Proposal) find their equivalent in articles 445 and 446 of the Luxembourg Commercial Code.
Some marginal amendments are likely to be required, inter alia to reflect: