The Supreme Court handed down its judgment in relation to the client money application in the matter of Lehman Brothers International (Europe) (LBIE). The judgment has a number of implications for firms who hold client money, and for firms who hold money with banks and other firms as clients themselves. The complicated and controversial nature of the appeal is reflected in the sharply opposing opinions of the Lords in relation to two of the three issues considered.

New Law on "Amendments to the Law on Insolvency (Bankruptcy) and Articles 17 and 223 of the Arbitrage Procedural Code with respect to establishment of special rules for bankruptcy of developers attracting money from participants in construction" was adopted on July 12, 2011 (the "Amendments"). Most of the Amendments were introduced as a special chapter No. 7 named "Bankruptcy of Developers" into the Federal law on Insolvency (Bankruptcy) No. 127-FZ as of 26 October 2002 (as amended) (the "Bankruptcy Law").

The Sinclair v Versailles1 decision has extinguished any prospect that a victim of a fraud has a proprietary claim to a fraudster’s secret profits. It also offers significant comfort to banks, insolvency practitioners and other potential recipients of trust funds by setting a high bar for whether a recipient person is “on notice” of a proprietary claim to those funds.

On 16 September 2010 the UK Treasury published a consultation paper seeking views on its proposals for a new Special Administration Regime (SAR) for investment firms. The Consultation included draft regulations that will implement the SAR (the Draft Regulations).

The Consultation was prompted by the failure of Lehman Brothers in 2008 which posed (and continues to pose) serious challenges for insolvency regimes around the world.

The transition from 2009 to 2010 sees some significant legislative chapters closing, notably the Companies Act 2006, Rome I and II, the Banking Act 2009 and the Lisbon Treaty.

Intoduction

With the credit crunch impacting the Russian banking sector and Russian banks facing their gravest crisis since 1998 (as evidenced by Bank Globex freezing deposits), it is in our view timely to revisit the regulations affecting the insolvency of Russian credit organisations.

In the matter of Maiden Civil (P&E) Pty Ltd; Richard Albarran and Blair Alexander Pleash as receivers and managers of Maiden Civil (P&E) Pty Ltd & Ors v Queensland Excavation Services Pty Ltd & Ors [2013] NSWSC 852

Overview

There is a recognised ambiguity in the transitional provisions of the Personal Property Securities Act 2009 (Cth) (PPSA),relating to the issue of whether an ‘umbrella agreement’, governing the supply of goods on retention of title (RoT) terms entered into prior to 30 January 2012, will be an effective transitional security interest.

Peter Bloxham has completed the first phase of his independent review of the Investment Bank Special Administration Regulations 2011 and in February 2013 presented an interim report, which HM Treasury has now published. In addition to making a number of immediate recommendations, the interim report sets out further areas to be reviewed as part of a second phase of work.

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) and institutional bodies have published the following guidance in relation to corporate governance and directors' remuneration in the last few months.