Matthew Czyzyk, Natalie Blanc, Natalie Raine and Emily Ma, Ropes & Gray

This is an extract from the 2023 edition of GRR's Europe, Middle East and Africa Restructuring Review. The whole publication is available here.

What You Need to Know

• Silicon Valley Bank’s 48-hour collapse sent several Big Law firms into action late last week.

• Morgan Lewis, Wilmer, Wilson Sonsini and Ballard Spahr are among the laws firms that launched task forces and webinars over the weekend.

• Despite some reassurance from the FDIC on Sunday, there are lingering issues that are expected to continue to prevent firms’ clients from conducting business in the normal course.

In what was described as a “momentous decision for company law”, the Supreme Court in BTI 2014 LLC v. Sequana SA and Others [2022] UKSC 25 (“Sequana”) confirmed the existence of a duty owed by company directors to consider the interests of its creditors when nearing insolvency.

It marks the first time the nature, scope, and content of directors’ duties to creditors when a company is nearing insolvency has been considered by the Supreme Court.

This week's issue has a strong ESG focus. We cover the Senate Committee's report into the government's Bill to overhaul the existing 'safeguard' mechanism, the outcomes of the ACCC's greenwashing sweep and the ACCC's enforcement priorities for 2023/24. On the financial services front we provide an update on the status of the proposed FAR (which would expand on and replace the existing BEAR). We also provide an update on the progress of measures to further 'modernise' Corporations Act requirements and more…

KARL CLOWRY, SEÁN MCGUINNESS, AND AZIZ ABDUL LOOK TO THE LESSONS FOR SHAREHOLDERS, CREDITORS AND ADMINISTRATORS FROM THE FIRST CREDITOR LED RESTRUCTURING PLAN.

The Good Box Co Labs Limited (in Administration) case demonstrates once more the viability of the process for the mid-market and continues a trend of RPs being used by a determined creditor / shareholder constituency to rescue an equity investment within an existing corporate group. In short, the mid-market RP is still a highly situational, albeit flexible, tool."

Following the important decision in Martlet Homes Ltd v Mulalley & Co Ltd [2022] (see our summary here), LDC (Portfolio One) Ltd v George Downing Construction

Gawain Moore, Ashley Armitage and Oliver Wheeler discuss the sanctioning by the Business and Property Courts in Leeds of the first creditor-led Part 26A restructuring plan.

This Regulatory Update provides a snapshot of the key legal developments in the BVI and the Cayman Islands over the last quarter – including amendments to BVI business company fees, the introduction of the BVI Virtual Asset Service Providers Act, and an update on the list of director names which is now publicly available in the BVI. It also contains a reminder of the January 2023 filing deadlines in the Cayman Islands, amendments to the Cayman LLC legislation and details of the highest possible rating given to the Cayman Islands by OECD for effectiveness of AEOI regime.

The corporate insolvency landscape in India has been refocused with the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (“IBC”) in the spotlight. Enacted in May 2016, the IBC has been regarded as a game-changing legislation for insolvency resolution.[1] With the shift to a creditor-centric approach from a debtor-in possession model which seemingly had failed, the IBC strives to conclude a corporate insolvency resolution process (“CIRP”) with a resolution plan considered viable by its creditors, failing which the corporate entity faces liquidation.

2022 has been a challenging year. In addition to the continuing impact of COVID-19 and the recent relaxation measures in China, the war in Ukraine has also brought impacts on society, politics and businesses.