Brazilian companies have increasingly chosen arbitration as their preferred method for resolving domestic and international disputes. Now the impact of COVID-19 in Brazil has caused a sharp increase in insolvencies, and there is no expectation of a quick turnaround in the next months and, possibly, years to come. What, then, are the potential effects of Brazilian insolvency proceedings on arbitrations in Brazil and abroad? We provide our insights in the document below.

On 26 May 2020, the Dutch Lower House adopted the long-awaited legislative proposal regarding the Dutch scheme (Wet Homologatie Onderhandsakkoord (WHOA)).

This is an important step towards the entry into force of the proposal. The Senate still needs to approve, but this can usually be done much quicker and less debate is expected.

The Senate will discuss the procedure of the treatment on 2 June 2020. Once the Senate has voted and it becomes clear when the WHOA comes into force, we will post a new update.

On 28 March 2019 the European Parliament adopted a Directive on insolvency, restructuring and second chance (the Directive). This project has had a long tail, following a Commission Recommendation issued in 2014 and, after that had no impact, a draft Directive in November 2016. This draft Directive is now about come to fruition. It has three main aims

1. to ensure that member states have a preventive restructuring framework – which includes a restructuring plan;

New legislation came into force in Hong Kong in eary February which gives the court power to set aside transactions performed at an undervalue. This briefing explains the scope of this new law and the key considerations for directors when approving corporate transactions in order to avoid the risk of incurring personal liability. It is available in English and Chinese.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer Recovery and resolution planning October 2015 1 The Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau of the Hong Kong Government (FSTB) in conjunction with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), and the Insurance Authority (IA)1 on 9 October 2015 published a paper entitled An Effective Resolution Regime for Financial Institutions in Hong Kong: Consultation Response and Certain Further Issues (CP3).2 Background Following from the recent global financial crisis, the G20 tasked the Financial Stability Board (FSB) with

Summary

On 24 July 2013, the Supreme Court handed down its long-awaited judgment in the Nortel/Lehman case: Re Nortel Companies [2013] UKSC 52. The Court looked at the position where a contribution notice (CN) or financial support direction (FSD) was issued by the Pensions Regulator (TPR) on a company that is already in insolvency proceedings in England (eg administration). How does the relevant obligation rank in the order of priority of payment?

A section 75 debt is a debt due from an employer in a multi-employer defined benefit pension scheme to the trustees of the scheme.

In a much anticipated judgment the Court of Appeal has clarified the position regarding the anti-deprivation rule.

The Pensions Regulator (the Regulator) recently used its powers under the Pensions Act 1995 to appoint an independent trustee to the exclusion of all other trustees of the scheme. The employer was required to pay the fees and expenses relating to the appointment.

The Regulator decided to use its powers because:

At a glance