Bankruptcy adjudication is not automatic, and even in voluntary petitions, a prebankruptcy procedure needs to be initiated before the bankruptcy adjudication. In the prebankruptcy, the parties will submit evidence to prove whether the debtor is in general default. It is not sufficient that the debtor merely confesses a general default to the court.

There have been cases in Mexico where the debtor must walk through a long path to get the petition's admission, even in voluntary petitions.

Good afternoon.

Following are this week’s summaries of the civil decisions of the Court of Appeal for Ontario.

Introduction  

In order to preserve a bankrupt's assets for distribution to creditors, any disposition of the bankrupt's property from the date of the bankruptcy application is considered void. However, this position is not absolute – the Court may consent to or ratify the disposition. In Sutherland, Hugh David Brodie v Official Assignee [2021] SGHC 65, the Singapore High Court set out the applicable principles that it would take into account when considering whether to ratify such disposition.

On Friday, March 19, 2021, Congressional lawmakers introduced a bill that would amend the U.S. Bankruptcy Code to prohibit bankruptcy judges from permanently enjoining or releasing legal claims of states, tribes, municipalities or the U.S. government against non-debtors.

On March 27, 2021, President Biden signed the “COVID-19 Bankruptcy Relief Extension Act of 2021” to extend the expiration dates of certain bankruptcy provisions of the CARES Act to March 27, 2022.

On March 19, 2021, the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit issued its decision in In re Orexigen Therapeutics, Inc., 2021 WL 1046485 (3rd Cir. Mar. 19, 2021), affirming lower courts’ decisions rejecting “triangular setoff” agreements as a proper basis for the application of setoff rights under section 553 of the Bankruptcy Code.

President Biden signed the COVID-19 Bankruptcy Relief Extension Act on Saturday, March 27, 2021 to extend critical bankruptcy relief provisions under the CARES Act that were set to expire on the same day. The bipartisan bill was introduced in late February 2021 and was passed by Congress just one day before the President signed it into law.

The Greater Bay Area (GBA) initiative is an ambitious scheme to link the nine cities in Guangdong’s Pearl River Delta, Hong Kong and Macau into an integrated economy and world class business hub.

As we previously reported, the CARES Act temporarily expanded the number of small businesses eligible for relief under the

Earlier, at the end of last year, on LinkedIn we posted the legal alert below regarding director’s liability in bankruptcy pursuant to section 2:138/248 of the Dutch Civil Code (‘DCC’). Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, legislation has been enacted that grants directors – under specific, COVID-related circumstances – temporary relief from the strict provisions of section 2:138/248 DCC.