Both COVID-19 itself and the severe financial impact the virus and associated lockdown has had on the UK economy, have led not only to a large number of UK businesses re-examining the contractual terms on which they do business but also to a spike in disputes. Some matters which have been prominent in current disputes, and which are therefore key considerations for business both in looking at their existing contracts and planning for the future, include the following: • What termination provisions do they have in their contracts?

In the last installment of this 3-part series, Oscar van Rossum du Chattel, a Senior Case Intelligence Manager based in Omni Bridgeway’s Geneva office, and Jonathan Siklos, a Senior Case Intelligence Manager bas

In part 2 of this 3-part series, Omni Bridgeway turns to Nathan Landis, an Investment Manager based in our Perth office, Shane Taylor, a Business Development Director based in our Sydney office,

Court closures

India was in complete lockdown from 24 March until 31 May, a situation that inevitably impacted the functioning of Indian courts. Even though most implemented measures to conduct virtual hearings, these hearings have been limited to only the most urgent cases. Once courts return to business as usual, they are likely to receive a surge in filings, which will increase the backlog in a country that already has 30 million pending cases.

In preparation for a post COVID-19 world, Chinese outbound investors have begun to source for bargain deals in other countries, with markets characterised by corporate restructurings, low prices, depressed valuations, distressed assets, and fire sales. In this article, we briefly set out some suggestions for Chinese outbound investors when entering into bargain M&A deals in this unprecedented M&A landscape.

The e-book “Litigation in the Time of Covid-19: Legal issues in commerce, finance and insolvency” analyses the key issues arising out of the coronavirus pandemic, as well as the latest legal developments, in seven areas: contract, corporate insolvency, personal insolvency, company law (including directors’ duties), civil procedure, banking and financial services, and offshore litigation. It is organised in a question and answer format and addresses issues such as:

EDITORIAL by John Kimbell QC

Welcome to the first edition of Aviation News!

These are challenging and uncertain times for the aviation world. Covid-19 has temporarily grounded large numbers of commercial aircraft and rumours of airline insolvency abound as pictures of empty airports regularly appear in the press. Against this background, Thomas Macey-Dare QC considers the impact of airline insolvency on slot allocation and Mark Stiggelbout and Emily McWilliams discuss the potential impact of force majeure and frustration arguments based on the pandemic.

1. Incorporation, corporate power, capacity and authorization of an Italian company

In connection with the capacity and authorization of an Italian company to enter into ISDA or GMRA master agreements, a Italian lawyer must check and control the copies of the accessible and public records of the company, the Registration Statement, the Company Statute and the Company bylaws, with regard to the prospective negotiation of any new Master netting Agreement.

This examination of available documentation is necessary and opportune in order to verify

Bankruptcy presents challenges for both landlords and tenants. However, tenants are often better protected during a bankruptcy case. And as some of the first big bankruptcy cases in the COVID-19 era show, protections for tenants could be expanding.

Tenants in bankruptcy have the following shields from lease obligations:

Forgiveness from termination provisions

Termination provisions in a lease cannot be enforced once tenants file for bankruptcy.

Freedom to assume and assign the lease

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has raised pressing questions about how a force majeure provision in a lease will affect a tenant's obligation to pay rent.