As the country recovers from the shock outcome of last Thursday’s Referendum, the question which Restructuring professionals must now consider is “what does Brexit mean for me?”. The truth is that nobody really knows. The Referendum decision is not legally binding on the UK Government and the process of the UK leaving the EU will only start once the UK has served formal notice on the EU pursuant to Article 50 of the Treaty on the European Union. This will start a two year negotiation period to effect Brexit.

The European Court of Justice has today given its decision in the “Woolworths case” on the duty to consult collectively under the Collective Redundancies Directive, in particular defining the meaning of “establishment” for the purposes of determining when that duty is triggered.

On 23 June 2016 a 52% majority of the British people voted in favour of leaving the European Union. It seems likely that the immediate effect of the Brexit vote will be a degree of turmoil in the financial markets, involving, for instance a devaluation of Sterling against the Euro and of the Euro against the USD.

In the latest decision on COMI (Northsea Base Investment Limited & ors [2015] EWHC 121 (Ch)), the English Court had to determine the centre of main interest for a  group of companies registered in Cyprus, but where the operations of the companies were managed by a shipping agent in London.

Despite vaccines now being available, tough measures remain in place to deal with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, creating uncertainties for businesses and owners about what the future holds.

At our webinar on 2 July 2020 we examined the impact of the CIGA for corporates engaged with third parties who might enter into an insolvency process.

We have put together this question and answer sheet responding to the questions raised which, together with our quick guides, will help corporates understand the issues and challenges that the new processes and procedures could pose.

In light of these changes and looking towards how trading

What is the impact on standard termination clauses, which are triggered by an insolvency event?

What is the GDPR?

The Australian government has taken swift action to enact new legislation that significantly changes the insolvency laws relevant to all business as a result of the ongoing developments related to COVID-19

Different countries frame the exact description of the role of directors of a company in different terms. One feature is common to all – the obligation not to continue trading if a company is insolvent. Again, the detailed implications of doing so vary from one jurisdiction to another. However, this obligation not to continue wrongful trading is at the heart of trust in a market-based economic system.

The EU directive 2012/30/EU proposed in November 2016 (“Proposed Directive”) aims to avoid the adverse effects of insolvency on companies through a more flexible regime of restructuring.