It has become increasingly common for companies needing to restructure to open restructuring / insolvency proceedings in a jurisdiction outside of where their centre of corporate control is located or assets are concentrated. Forum shopping in a restructuring context is becoming more common place, however it also remains highly controversial. The panelists at the INSOL breakout session, A Hitchhikers Guide of Forum Shopping, considered what makes a good forum for restructuring / insolvency, and whether forum shopping is desirable or undesirable.
Some businesses operate in a naturally risky environment where a major crisis event is a real possible consequence of everyday operations. What do you do when something literally blows up?
In the context of the scenario posed for the first day of the conference, this panel considered some of the obligations of the board and the officers of a near insolvent company in managing financial, regulatory, and environmental risks.
Litigation funding can form a useful part of the arsenal of an insolvency practitioner when attempting to maximise the return to creditors. Yet funders can be met with suspicion by creditors and courts alike, depending on the country in which you pursue your litigation.
This break out session sought to highlight key issues for funders and borrowers, and regional differences in how litigation funding is perceived and applied.
The shipping industry was recently in the headlines when on 31 August 2016 Hanjin Shipping Co filed for bankruptcy protection in the Seoul Central District Court. Hanjin was South Korea’s biggest container carrier and the seventh largest in the world.
The latest development in what has been a long-running (and expensive) cross-border insolvency proceeding involving Nortel (see our June 2015 and September 2015 legal updates for previous instalments) is a settlement between:
The English Court granted recognition of Chapter 11 proceedings in relation to a company that was incorporated in the UK but had its centre of main interests ("COMI") in the United States, confirming that the Directors were foreign representatives for the purpose of the Cross Border Insolvency Regulations 2006 ("the Regulations").
Singapore is set to adopt the recommendations of the Committee to Strengthen Singapore as an International Centre for Debt Restructuring.
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners Summer National Meeting, held on August 24 - 28 in San Diego, produced a number of noteworthy developments related to international, financial, and other regulatory matters. Many of these matters are interconnected on both public policy and technical grounds and involve a mixture of domestic and international political issues.
Le 1er septembre 2016 la compagnie Hanjin Shipping Co Ltd (“Hanjin”) première compagnie coréenne de transport maritime par conteneur a sollicité la protection de la loi coréenne sur les faillites et une procédure collective, dite de “réhabilitation”, a été ouverte par les tribunaux de Séoul.
This past weekend, Hanjin vessels commenced unloading operations on the U.S. West Coast for the first time since Hanjin filed its bankruptcy petition with the Seoul Central District Court in Korea. Vessels have also been reportedly unloading in Japanese and Canadian ports. There is an obvious overriding public interest in having the many millions of dollars worth of cargo resume moving to its various destinations.