In November 2021, the High Court of Australia will consider the application of the Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment done at Cape Town on 16 November 2001 (the Convention) in Australia in light of facts arising out of the administration of the Virgin Australia group.
Six days into 2020, the Indonesian Constitutional Court (“Constitutional Court”) began the New Year with a bang, issuing a decision that is not likely to be received well in loan markets.
The Constitutional Court has decided in favour of two petitioners (a married couple) and effectively changed the interpretation of Article 15(2) and (3) of the Fiducia Law (Law No. 42 of 1999), striking at the core principles of that law (“Constitutional Court Decision”).
INTRODUCTION
The use of trusts for asset protection purposes is well established and – in principle – not improper. However, recent history has seen increasing attempts by creditors to have transfers of assets unwound. A recent UK Supreme Court case saw the Court effectively achieve this by way of a resulting trust finding.1 This article considers the issue from a different angle: insolvency legislation.
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MADRID E-BULLETIN
RESTRUCTURING, TURNAROUND AND INSOLVENCY
REFORM OF SPANISH INSOLVENCY LEGISLATION
On Friday 7 March 2014 the Spanish Council of Ministers approved Royal Decree-Law 4/2014, of 7 March, which adopts urgent measures on the refinancing and restructuring of corporate debt. The above Royal Decree-Law introduces a series of significant reforms to the Spanish Insolvency Act 22/2003, of 9 July, (the "Insolvency Act"). The Royal Decree-Law has entered into force on 10 March 2014.
Royal Decree-Law 14/2013 ("RD-L 14/2013"), of 29 November, of urgent measures to adapt Spanish law to European Union regulations on the supervision and solvency of financial institutions, that entered into force on 1 December, clarifies the insolvency qualification regime applicable to the credits transferred by SAREB, to third parties, thus modifying section h) of article 36.4 of Act 9/2012, of 14 November, on the restructuring and resolution of credit institutions ("Act 9/2012").
Act 38/2011, of 10 October, which reforms the former Spanish Insolvency Act, introduces a number of measures, including the possibility of obtaining court approval for refinancing agreements meeting certain requirements to extend the agreed debt rescheduling to certain creditors that have either opposed the refinancing agreement (i.e. dissident creditors), or that have not participated in it.
Additional Provision 4 of the Insolvency Act establishes that court approval for refinancing agreements may be sought by the debtor if they meet the following conditions:
In a recent decision, the German courts clarified the circumstances under which repayments on a loan not granted by a direct shareholder of an insolvent borrower could qualify as repayments on a shareholder loan, and therefore avoid being contested in insolvency proceedings.
Background
The German Insolvency Act (the Act) states that certain company "cash transactions" may be contested in insolvency proceedings only in limited circumstances. Earlier this year, the German Federal Court of Justice clarified that this "cash transaction privilege" does not apply to securities granted by a debtor company for shareholder loans.
In Walchuk v. Houghton, the Ontario Court of Appeal held that the stay of all proceedings against a bankrupt pursuant to the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act applies to a contempt motion brought by a judgment creditor where the contempt arises after the bankruptcy.
The Supreme Court of Canada recently released its decision in Saulnier v. Royal Bank of Canada1 ("Saulnier"), an important case involving fishing licences in the context of a secured lending transaction and an assignment in bankruptcy. This case contains what we believe is significant commentary on classifying certain governmental licences as "property" under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (Canada) (the "BIA") and "personal property" under the Personal Property Security Act (Nova Scotia) (the "Nova Scotia PPSA").