As we previously reported in Royalty Rights as Unsecured Claims: The Relevance of Mallinckrodt to M&A, Revenue or Royalty Interest Financings, and Other Transactions Involving Future Payment Streams, a decision arising out of the Mallinckrodt plc bankruptcy cases
This FAQ has been updated to take account of developments through March 15, 2023.
This half-yearly update summarises significant insurance coverage cases in the English courts in the second half of 2022 concerning Covid-19 business interruption insurance, jurisdiction and rights against insurers of insolvent companies.
Significant Insurance Coverage Cases in H2 2022
Covid-19 BI Cases:
As 2022 drew to a close, a Delaware bankruptcy court approved a settlement between PhaseBio Pharmaceuticals and SFJ Pharmaceuticals over their ill-fated drug development financing partnership. This court approval ended a legal saga that began two years ago, when PhaseBio, a public biopharmaceutical company developing a novel drug to control bleeding in certain patients, entered into an agreement with SFJ, a company that finances and supports drug development, to fund up to $120 million to advance PhaseBio’s pivotal Phase III trial for the drug.
On December 20, 2022, the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) issued a notice of request for information (RFI) on the regulation of biotechnology on behalf of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
On 28 October 2022, the European Commission (the “Commission”) adopted the second amendment to its Temporary Crisis Framework for State Aid measures to support the economy following the aggression against Ukraine by Russia (the “Framework”). The second amendment to the Framework extends its duration by one year until 31 December 2023.
The four most important things you need to know about this amendment are:
In this alert, we review an important UK Supreme Court decision, which confirms that the fiduciary duties of directors to act in good faith in the interests of the company should, where insolvency[1] is imminent or insolvent liquidation or administration is probable, be interpreted as including the interests of its creditors.
As South African businesses are left reeling in the wake of the escalating coronavirus crisis and the imposition of a 35-day lockdown , we look at the implications for South African companies and how those in financial difficulty may find some relief under the Companies Act 71 of 2008 (Companies Act).
The German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof - BGH) confirmed in a decision on May 7, 2020 (file number IX ZB 56/19) that distressed debt traders have the unrestricted right to inspect insolvency files.
The UK Government has tabled legislation to assist companies in financial difficulty and to make temporary changes to the law relating to the governance and regulation of companies. The Corporate Insolvency and Governance Bill1 (the "Bill"), which commenced its passage through the UK Parliament on 20 May 2020, is relevant to public companies as it provides for the temporary relaxation of certain requirements regarding annual general meetings ("AGMs") and other shareholder meetings and the temporary easing of certain statutory filing requirements.