On 7 February 2020 the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”), the Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”) and the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (“FSCS”) issued a joint statement warning FCA-authorised firms and insolvency practitioners to be responsible when dealing with personal data (the “Joint Statement”).
In the case of Wilson v McNamara [2020] EWHC 98 (Ch) the High Court of England and Wales (the Court) considered whether the EU principle of freedom of establishment requires that a pension held in another EU member state (Ireland) should be excluded from a bankruptcy estate under UK law in the same manner as a UK pension would be in a UK bankruptcy. Mr Justice Nugee decided in order to decide the case the Court needed to refer a preliminary reference to the European Court of Justice (CJEU) on a question of EU law.
In this blog, we highlight changes to law, practice and procedure that will or could impact the restructuring insolvency market this year – covering important changes that should be on your radar – as well as providing an update on those changes that were expected but which might be delayed beyond 2020.
Brexit – will it be business as usual for R&I practitioners?
This week sees the UK finally leave Europe.
On 26 June 2019, the new Harmonisation Directive was formally published in the Official Journal of the European Union. As a result, by 17 July 2021, each Member State must include in its respective insolvency and restructuring laws a US Chapter 11-style debtor-in-possession regime which will radically change the future landscape of the European restructuring market.
The Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) has held once again that the Insolvency Directive does not require member states to put measures in place to fully fund lost pension rights on the insolvency of an employer. This conclusion is contrary to some reporting in the pensions press earlier today.
Italy is already implementing the Directive (EU) 2019/1023 of the European Parliament and the Council of 20 June 2019 (the “Directive”), related to the preventive restructuring frameworks, discharge and measures aiming at increasing the effectiveness of restructuring, insolvency and discharge procedures, that Member States shall implement within 17 July 2021.
The European Court of Justice has handed down its decision in Pensions-Sicherungs-Verein VVaG v Günther Bauer. The case relates to Article 8 of Directive 2008/94/EC, which requires Member States to take measures to protect employees’ rights to old age benefits in the event of the employer's insolvency.
L’Italia sembra essere in netto anticipo nel recepimento della direttiva (UE) 2019/1023 del Parlamento Europeo e del Consiglio del 20 giugno 2019 (la “Direttiva”), riguardante i quadri di ristrutturazione preventiva, l'esdebitazione e le interdizioni, e le misure volte ad aumentare l'efficacia delle procedure di ristrutturazione, insolvenza ed esdebitazione, che gli Stati membri dovranno fare propria entro il 17 luglio 2021.
In this chapter of our Annual Insurance Review 2020, we look at the main developments in 2019 and expected issues in 2020 for restructuring and insolvency.
Key developments in 2019
In one of the leading insurance insolvency and restructuring cases of 2019, Ballantyne Re, plc (Ballantyne) used an Irish scheme of arrangement to restructure its reinsurance obligations and outstanding indebtedness (the Scheme).
To date, EU-wide insolvency legislation has focused on resolving conflicts of laws issues between Member States. Now that the Preventive Restructuring Framework Directive (the "Directive")1 has successfully navigated its way through the Council and European Parliament (albeit with some significant amendments to the original text), all of that is set to change.