This note sets out the circumstances in which a creditor may successfully lift a statutory moratorium against a company in administration in England and Wales, and in Singapore.

English law

In collaboration with our foreign law firm partners, we continue to update our chart of COVID-19 measures taken by governments around the world. Today’s update includes new information for many countries as indicated in the chart: Global Government Measures Taken in Response to COVID-19.

On 30 April 2020 took effect Royal Decree-law 16/2020 of 28 April 2020, which includes a new set of measures within the judicial system to deal with the COVID-19 situation.

We highlight below the main measures adopted below:

1. Procedural measures

• Part of August is made a working month, on an exceptional basis

The 11th to the 31st of August 2020 will be working days for all judicial proceedings. Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays are excluded except for proceedings for which these are already working days.

The SBA’s Rules Exclude Bankruptcy Debtors from Relief Under the Paycheck Protection Program

On April 20, 2020, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker signed legislation suspending evictions of many residential and commercial tenants as well as halting the foreclosure of most residential properties. The new law, Chapter 65 of the Acts of 2020, “An Act providing for a Moratorium on Evictions and Foreclosures During the COVID-19 Emergency,” takes effect immediately and will remain in place until the earlier of August 18, 2020 or 45 days after Governor Baker lifts the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) emergency declaration.

This article was originally published on Law360.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused, and continues to cause, massive humanitarian and economic upheaval with no clear end in sight. Borrowers are already scrambling to increase liquidity from their banks. Some will continue to operate openly, honestly, and in the best interests of the company and its stakeholders. Others will not.

Less than three weeks after the Intervention Measures to Mitigate the Effects of the COVID-19 Infectious Disease Epidemic on Citizens and the Economy Act (Zakon o interventnih ukrepih za zajezitev epidemije COVID-19 in omilitev njenih posledic za državljane in gospodarstvo; the “Intervention Act”) came into force, new amendments are on their way.

Commentators, economists and government officials are struggling to come up with sufficiently-hyperbolic language to describe the economic fallout from the shuttering of the world economy in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Words such as “catastrophic” are used with disturbing frequency. Even if some of these prophecies turn out to be overwrought, it appears inevitable that an unprecedented number of businesses, large and small, will require compromises from their creditors in order to continue in business.

The COVID-19 global pandemic has taken a toll on the Indonesian economy, underlining the need for financial institutions to have adequate liquidity in the face of uncertain times.

The confinement measures adopted by various governments to fight the Covid-19 outbreak have severely impacted the financial position, and particularly cashflow, of many undertakings. Revenues have completely or partially dried up, whilst overhead and recurring costs continue to be incurred.