As the UK teeters on the brink of what would appear to be an inevitable recession, new restructuring tools introduced in the UK in 2020 pursuant to the Corporate Insolvency & Governance Act 2020 (“CIGA”) will ensure that issuers and other distressed borrowers can execute more creative and aggressive restructuring strategies than were possible during previous market downturns. A brief summary of the new UK restructuring plan is set out below, together with some examples as to how the restructuring plan is being used in practice.

"Credito Real is attempting to bypass Mexican and US insolvency laws and deploy a corporate liquidation statute with almost no protections for creditors.

Recently, the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom released its judgment in BTI 2014 LLC v Sequana SA¹. This marks the first occasion on which the nature, scope and content of directors' duties to creditors when a company is nearing insolvency (the "Creditor Duty") has been considered by the Supreme Court.

Last week, the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom released its judgment in BTI 2014 LLC v Sequana SA. This marks the first occasion on which the nature, scope and content of directors' duties to creditors when a company is nearing insolvency (the "Creditor Duty") has been considered by the Supreme Court.

Introductie

In het derde kwartaal van 2022 zijn op www.rechtspraak.nl uitspraken gepubliceerd waarin de ingestelde vordering gegrond was op bestuurdersaansprakelijkheid. Het betrof 1 uitspraak van de Hoge Raad (81 RO), 3 conclusies van de advocaat-generaal bij de Hoge Raad, 27 uitspraken van de gerechtshoven en 28 van rechtbanken.

In deze Kwartaalupdate Bestuurdersaansprakelijkheid voor Q3 2022 is een selectie gemaakt uit deze uitspraken. De navolgende onderwerpen komen aan bod:

Yesterday, 17 October 2022, Revenue announced a significant update to the Debt Warehousing Scheme (DWS). Under the DWS, taxpayers with deferred liabilities had until the end of 2022 (and for certain qualifying business, 30 April 2023) to either settle their outstanding liabilities (at 0% interest) or to establish a Phased Payment Arrangement with Revenue (at 3% interest). In light of the current challenging economic environment, Revenue have now extended this deadline to 1 May 2024.

On 27 July 2022, the European Union (Preventive Restructuring) Regulations 2022 (S.I. 380/2022) (the Regulations) amended the Irish Companies Act 2014 (the Act) by transposing certain requirements of Directive (EU) 2019/1023 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 (the Directive) not already provided for in Irish law.

This has resulted in a number of modifications to the examinership regime and, for the first time, a codification of directors' duties when companies are in the `zone of insolvency'.

The changes to the Examinership regime include:

On 5 October 2022, the Supreme Court handed down its long-awaited judgment on the scope of directors’ duties in circumstances where a company is in financial difficulty, often referred to as the “twilight zone” i.e. the company is not yet insolvent but the company’s financial position is precarious. The hope was that the Supreme Court would provide certainty for those directors faced with difficult decisions in such circumstances, however, it is arguable whether the judgment has gone far enough to provide precise guidance.

Summary

Since 1988, the ‘rule in West Mercia’ – so named after the West Mercia Safetywear v Dodd Court of Appeal case – has been the leading authority for when directors of financially stressed companies are subject to the so-called ‘creditor duty’, namely the duty to consider the interests of the company’s creditors.

Már Magyarországon is elindítható a szerkezetátalakítási eljárás, amelynek célja az életképes vállalkozások nehézségeinek kezelése és a fizetésképtelenség megelőzése. A DLA Piper Hungary szakmai eseményén jogi és gazdasági oldalról egyaránt megvilágították a szakértők az új eljárás részleteit és előnyeit, valamint arra is kitértek, hogy a megváltozott külső körülmények milyen iparági szereplőket állítottak igazán komoly kihívások elé.