Ever since the new business rescue regime, contained in Chapter 6 of the Companies Act, No 71 of 2008 came into force in May 2011 there has been much anticipation as to how courts would treat sureties who had stood and provided security for the debts of a company (principal debtor) that subsequently went into business rescue and had a business rescue plan adopted: would such suretyships remain unaffected and enforceable?
The in duplum rule is a common law rule that provides that arrear interest ceases to accrue once the sum of the unpaid (accrued) interest equals the amount of capital outstanding at the time (and not the amount of capital originally advanced). "In duplum" directly translates to "double the amount".
An interesting judgment was delivered by the Honourable J Majiki on 19 of November 2013 in the Eastern Cape High Court, Port Elizabeth. The first and second applicants under case 3521/2012 were ABSA Bank Limited and Maria Ramos respectively.
In 2009, a certain savings bank (“S Savings Bank”) issued subordinated bonds (the “Subordinated Bonds”). Subsequently, the Financial Services Commission designated it as an insolvent financial institution and issued a management reform order, which included the suspension of its business. Eventually, bankruptcy proceedings were commenced against S Savings Bank in around 2011, and the representative director of S Savings Bank was indicted for financial statement fraud and eventually found guilty.
On 19 May 2016, the National Assembly passed the bill to amend the Debtor Rehabilitation and Bankruptcy Act (“DRBA”). Key amendments include (1) improvements to the early proposed rehabilitation plan submission policy; (2) broadened scope of creditor participation in the proceedings; and (3) stronger protection of creditors with commercial claims. The revised DRBA is expected to enter into force 3 months after promulgation.
I. Improvements to the early rehabilitation plan proposal submission policy
The toughening of lockdown measures in Spain and resulting closure of all business activities not classed as essential makes it absolutely necessary to keep very much in sight this week the measures approved in the labor and employment field. In the domain of corporate law and commercial contracts, the decision governing the first tranche of guarantees to soften the economic effects of the crisis has already been published in the Spanish Official State Gazette (BOE). As for tax matters, the personal income tax and wealth tax season is about to start.
Publicaciones de Hogan Lovells | 01 abril 2020
Algunas cuestiones de interés en relación con el impacto del COVID-19 en las financiaciones estructuradas
El impacto del virus COVID-19 está siendo significativo en todo tipo de industrias y lugares del mundo y, por consiguiente, surgen también muchas cuestiones que analizar en el ámbito de las financiaciones estructuradas.
Liberado el segundo tramo de la lnea ICO de avales para paliar los efectos econmicos del COVID-19, aprobada por el Real Decreto-ley 8/2020 (RDL 8/2020), se discute an estos das sobre la compatibilidad de estas garantas con operaciones de refinanciacin y reestructuracin de deuda.
En concreto, se plantean dudas que se concretan en tres momentos temporales:
La Sentencia del Tribunal Supremo nº1246/2019, de 25 de septiembre anula el art. 197 bis del RD 1065/2007, de 27 de julio por entender que no cuenta con habilitación legal, de modo que la potestad de dictar una liquidación de los elementos de la deuda tributaria vinculados al delito no ampara suficientemente la posibilidad de pasar tanto de culpa o remitir el expediente al Ministerio Fiscal en cualquier momento, incluso cuando ya se ha dictado la liquidación o se ha impuesto la sanción.
Los administradores responden de las deudas contraídas por la sociedad tras la aparición de una causa de disolución si no promueven la ordenada disolución y liquidación. Sin embargo, esta obligación se refiere a las deudas surgidas durante su cargo, de manera que no les son imputables las deudas originadas antes de su nombramiento como administradores, aunque al acceder al cargo la sociedad ya estuviera en causa de disolución.