UK insolvency landscape permanently changed by the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 (“the 2020 Act”).

On 26 June 2020 the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 (“the 2020 Act”) finally entered into force. Now it is in its final form, Simon Newman and Christopher Pask of 1 Chancery Lane’s Commercial, Chancery and Property team will be providing their views on its provisions and their impact over a series of updates.

GOVERNANCE & SECURITIES LAW FOCUS

JULY 2020/EUROPE EDITION

Below is a summary of the main developments in U.S., EU, U.K. and Italian corporate governance and securities law since our last update in April 2020.

See our page dedicated to the latest financial regulatory developments.

IN THIS ISSUE

More than £46 billion has been lent or approved since March 2020 under the three loan schemes backed by the UK government – the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme, and the Bounce Back Loan Scheme – and more than £30 billion of VAT has been deferred by the government.

The COVID-19 pandemic has heavily disrupted our lives, communities, and businesses. Even with new approaches, not all businesses can overcome the substantial challenges brought by the pandemic. Lending programs like the Paycheck Protection Program have brought temporary relief, but many small businesses remain exposed to financial difficulties and face a real risk of bankruptcy.

New Small Business Provisions in Bankruptcy Code

A Chapter 13 bankruptcy plan requires a debtor to satisfy unsecured debts by paying all “projected disposable income” to unsecured creditors over a five-year period. In a recent case before the U.S.

Se ha publicado en el BOE un nuevo Real Decreto-ley (el 25/2020), con medidas urgentes destinadas a preservar el tejido productivo y apoyar la reactivación económica y el empleo.

Destacamos a continuación las principales novedades:

1. Medidas de apoyo a la inversión y a la solvencia

Se aprueba una nueva línea de avales ICO por importe de hasta un máximo de 40.000 millones de euros para

financiar inversiones productivas (a diferencia de las anteriores líneas, que estaban destinadas solucionar

problemas de liquidez).

The Spanish government has announced emergency measures aimed at protecting businesses and supporting economic recovery and employment in the country.

We highlight the main measures in the decree (RDL 25/2020) below:

1. Support for investment and solvency

 State-backed guarantees for new investments

A further €40 billion of guarantees from Spain’s financial agency (ICO) are made available to finance productive

investment (unlike previous guarantees, aimed to be liquidity buffers).

The UK has introduced a new restructuring tool, the Restructuring Plan, which when coupled with other provisions of the new law creates the possibility of the management of a company in financial difficulty remaining in control of a process designed to turn the company around as a going concern whilst in many cases having the benefit of a moratorium. Sounds a little like Chapter 11 in the US?

We examine whether the Restructuring Plan will offer aviation companies in the UK (and elsewhere?) a potential route to deal with the difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Questions and answers on the effect of the part A1 moratorium to be introduced by the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 from a Lender's perspective.

The Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 (CIGA) was enacted on 26 June 2020 and includes measures both as a response to COVID-19, which apply temporarily, and measures which apply permanently, part of a long-planned package of insolvency reform measures.

Good afternoon.

Following are our summaries of last week’s civil decisions of the Court of Appeal for Ontario. Not surprisingly, it was a light week.