BEIS has just published the Government's response to its March 2018 consultation on "Insolvency and Corporate Governance" reforms. The response identifies a number of proposals for reform, as summarised below:

Action to improve the insolvency framework in the cases of major failure

BEIS has just published the Government's response to its March 2018 consultation on "Insolvency and Corporate Governance" reforms (for our March alert on this, click

OVERVIEW OF AUSTRALIAN CORPORATE INSOLVENCY REGIMES

Restructuring & Insolvency

Restructuring & Insolvency | i

Overview of Australian Corporate Insolvency Regimes

This document provides a summary of the most common Australian formal corporate insolvency regimes, namely:

voluntary administration;

receivership; and winding up.

It also covers creditors' schemes of arrangement which are increasingly being used in larger restructurings.

Bloom Lake General Partner Limited, Wabush Resources Inc. and related entities (Bloom Lake) received Court protection under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) in 2015 and subsequently virtually all of its assets were liquidated. The remaining assets included preference claims valued at approximately $173 million.

On 20 July 2018, the Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf ruled that standard D&O insurances do not cover restitution claims for payments which managing directors of a limited liability company make after the company becomes insolvent. Whereas it is possible to obtain coverage for restitution claims, many older policies do not provide for this. Directors are well advised to check the scope of their insurance coverage.

Background

Introduction

The concept of winding up does not exclusively apply to insolvent companies. Solvent companies can also be wound up, on the initiation of the company’s directors and shareholders (for example, as part of a corporate reconstruction or to close down non-operating or redundant entities).

An overview of the two key procedures to effect the dissolution of a solvent Australian company, being Members’ Voluntary Liquidation and Deregistration, is set out below.

Contracts, agreements, arrangements and rights to which the stay on enforcing ipso facto clauses does not apply; final Regulations and Declaration published

The reform and its progress

In Esfahani v. Samimi, 2018 ONCA 516 the Ontario Court of Appeal confirmed that a plaintiff pursuing a fraudulent conveyance or preference must recognize that the legal landscapes changes with a bankruptcy and that the effects of a bankruptcy filing cannot be ignored.

Anderson v. Credit One Bank, N.A. (In re Anderson), 884 F.3d 382 (2d Cir. 2018) [click for opinion]

General context

The statutory regulation of cryptocurrency in Russia is yet to be made compatible with the current dynamics of digital assets.