The Supreme Court of Canada’s decision in the case of Re Indalex Ltd. [2013] SCC 6 (the “Decision”) does not, as one national newspaper put it place “creditors before pensioners”. The Decision which overturned the Ontario Court of Appeal’s decision in Re Indalex Ltd. [2011] O.J. No.

The Government’s roadmap out of lockdown signals a return to trading for a number of businesses hard-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. There is however potential for heightened financial distress in the coming period as existing support measures are withdrawn and currently deferred liabilities become payable, bringing the challenges faced by this sector into sharp focus.

The UK Government has reintroduced the temporary suspension of wrongful trading measures from 26 November 2020 until 30 April 2021 pursuant to The Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 (Coronavirus) (Suspension of Liability for Wrongful Trading and Extension of the Relevant Period) Regulations. The suspension was originally introduced in March 2020 under section 12 of the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 and expired on 30 September 2020.

The Supreme Court has recently released a decision on directors' duties, which should serve as a timely reminder to all directors of their duties under the Companies Act in circumstances of insolvency. Continuing to trade while insolvent will be a breach of your duties, even if you believe that overall creditors may be better off or the extent of losses will be reduced. It is however welcome confirmation for liquidators that the Courts will enforce the provisions of the Companies Act based on the clear wording of these sections.

The Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 introduces a range of changes to UK insolvency law of a magnitude not seen since the reforms of the Enterprise Act 2002. One of the reforms included in the Act is a wide ranging prohibition on the operation of termination clauses in contracts for the supply of goods and/or services where the counterparty enters a relevant insolvency process.

What do the provisions do?

Under the new provisions, suppliers will be prevented from:

On March 27, 2020, Congress enacted, and President Trump signed into law, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act to provide financial relief to individuals and small business harmed by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The CARES Act included an initial allocation of $349 billion to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), a convertible loan program under Section 7 of the Small Business Act (SBA).

In brief...

The use of creditors’ schemes of arrangement is on the rise in Australia. Along the way the Australian courts have made valuable contributions to international scheme jurisprudence. In this article we look at some of these contributions and then explore how Australian law might be further developed to remain a leading jurisdiction for creditors’ schemes.

Advantages of schemes as a restructuring tool

On April 15, 2019, President Petro Poroshenko signed the Code on Bankruptcy Proceedings. The text of the law was officially published on April 20 and is available in Ukrainian. The new law aims to strengthen the rights of creditors, improve the procedure of debtors’ assets sale at bankruptcy auctions, provide clear mechanisms for restoring solvency of debtors, and enhance the overall efficiency of bankruptcy proceedings.

The Fed and the FDIC, in an August 30 joint press release, announced that they are extending the filing deadline for Prudential Financial Inc. and four major foreign banking organizations to submit their resolution plans. Prudential Financial, a designated nonbank SIFI pursuant to Dodd-Frank, will now have until December 31, 2019, to submit its living will, a year later than previously required (and following previous extensions).

Certain amendments to the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure, which became effective on December 1, 2017, impose affirmative obligations on secured creditors to protect the right to distribution in a bankruptcy case. Specifically, Rule 3002(a) now requires a secured creditor to file a proof of claim in order to gain allowance for a secured claim.