HFW DISPUTES DIGEST 2023

Welcome to the second annual Disputes Digest, in which we collate our 2023 global HFW LITIGATION and International Arbitration publications in one place.

This edition includes updates from across our Disputes arena, including England and Wales, BVI, AsiaPac, and the Middle East.

Good afternoon. Following are this week’s summaries of the Court of Appeal for Ontario for the week of December 18, 2023.

2024: main new legislation needing to be considered by companies in Spain 2024 Viewpoint Spain 2 2024: main new legislation needing to be considered by companies in Spain December 2023 Professionals in the various practice areas at Garrigues take a look, from all angles of business law, at the main new legislation that companies will face in the coming year. 2024 promises to be an intense year in terms of statutory and case law.

Following our previous article on the Canadian case of Qualex-Landmark Towers Inc v 12-10 Capital Corp, there has been an application to appeal to Alberta’s highest court with several intervener applications. Beale & Co provides an update and further commentary on the next chapter of this environmental case.

1. Department of Finance publishes its Feedback Statement on the National Discretions contained within MiCA

One of the primary goals of bankruptcy law is to provide debtors with a fresh start by imposing an automatic stay and allowing for claims of reorganizing debtors to be discharged. In environmental law, a primary goal is to ensure that the “polluter pays” for environmental harms. These two goals collide when an entity with environmental liabilities enters bankruptcy. The result is often outcomes that are the exception, rather than the rule, with many unsettled areas of law that can be dealt with by bankruptcy courts in varying ways.

What is causing supply chain pressure and how can you spot the red flags?

Increase in insolvencies

Insolvency rates in the manufacturing and construction industries are higher than pre-pandemic levels and are showing an upward trend on a year-by-year basis since 2021.

This week:

In a recent case involving Mantle Materials Group, Ltd. (2023 ABKB 488, “Mantle“), the intersection of environmental obligations and insolvency law in Canada has again come into sharp focus.

1. SOLVENCY II 1.1 Solvency II Directive review: ECON agrees position on Solvency II Directive review On 27 July 2023, the European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) published a report on its agreed position on the Proposal for a Directive amending the Solvency II Directive1 (Proposed Directive).