This week’s TGIF looks at the decision of the Federal Court of Australia in Donoghue v Russells (A Firm)[2021] FCA 798 in which Mr Donoghue appealed a decision to make a sequestration order which was premised on him ‘carrying on business in Australia' for the purpose of section 43(1)(b)(iii) of the Bankruptcy Act 1966 (Cth) (Act).

Key Takeaways

Even prior to the global impact of COVID-19, commercial bankruptcy filings were already on the rise. As stay-at-home orders caused many businesses to close or significantly curtail operations in 2020, financial struggles in the commercial sector mounted. Government assistance through the passage of different stimulus programs such as the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act (2020) and Coronavirus Response and Consolidated Appropriations Act (2021) has temporarily helped companies stave off difficult financial decisions.

As Mitt Romney famously noted, "Corporations are people, my friend." But not when it comes to Fifth Amendment privileges, as a US Bankruptcy Court in New York recently made clear. Clients of the now defunct law firm Kossoff PLLC filed involuntary bankruptcy petitions against the firm and the firm's appointed representative, its founder and former managing member, resisted producing records to the trustee claiming the production of the documents could incriminate the representative in a pending criminal investigation.

The Companies (Rescue Process for Small and Micro Companies) Bill 2021 (Bill) detailing the government's proposed rescue process for small and micro companies (SCARP) has successfully passed through the Oireachtas and is expected to be signed into law shortly by the President. The legislation will be commenced at a future date by the Minister.

In 2016, the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (“IBC”) was enacted with the objective to bring the insolvency law in India under a single unified umbrella and to ensure speedy resolution of an entity (“Corporate Debtor”) which has defaulted in payment to its creditors (including the statutory authorities). Under the IBC, the Corporate Debtor is required to undergo a Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (“CIRP”).

Companies House temporarily paused their strike off processes in April 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The effect of this was to stay all strike off action. The stay was lifted on 10 October 2020 but stayed for a second time on 21 January 2021.

The second stay was lifted on 8 March 2021 and, absent further significant disruption caused by COVID-19, is unlikely to be subject to a further stay.

Op 28 juni 2021 heeft het kabinet een wetsvoorstel in consultatie gebracht met als doel de turboliquidatie van rechtspersonen transparanter te maken voor schuldeisers. Om dat te bereiken, stelt de minister voor dat het bestuur van een rechtspersoon binnen tien werkdagen na de ontbinding een aantal documenten deponeert bij het Handelsregister en van de deponering mededeling doet aan de schuldeisers. Ook bevat het voorstel de mogelijkheid om, indien een bestuurder de nieuwe regels niet naleeft, een bestuursverbod op te leggen.

On 28 June 2021 the Dutch government initiated a public consultation procedure concerning a legislative proposal intended to make expedited liquidation of legal entities more transparent for creditors. To achieve this goal, the Minister has proposed that the management board of a legal entity should file a number of documents with the Trade Register within 10 days of liquidation and then notify their creditors that they have done so. The proposal also allows for the possibility of disqualifying a managing director who should fail to observe the new rules.

In this edition of the Going concerns, our Stephenson Harwood restructuring and insolvency team provides a brief update on the newest developments in Singapore, UK and Hong Kong. For Singapore, we update on the "conflict" between the admiralty and insolvency regimes while our London team provides an update on the cutting-edge Part 26A restructuring plans. Last but certainly not least, our Hong Kong team dissects and discusses the significance and impact of the new cooperation mechanism for Hong Kong liquidators and Mainland administrators to seek mutual recognition and assistance.

Slotine explains the nuts and bolts of the two routes towards closing down a solvent company in Hong Kong: members’ voluntary winding-up and deregistration.