The leading international insolvency practitioners and thought leaders in the world will convene for the 11th Annual Conference of the International Insolvency Institute at Columbia University in New York on June 13-14, 2011. The Conference will feature reports and analyses of the world’s most important current international insolvency issues and controversies described by speakers who are recognized globally as preeminent in their field.
First published in The Lawyer on July 18, 2011
Western economies, many With recoveries stalling in investors and creditors are considering carefully which jurisdictions will govern their interests in the event of insolvency and what, if anything, can be done to influence the process.
Many investment funds and other vehicles, attracted by tax-neutrality and stability, are incorporated in jurisdictions such as the Cayman Islands and the British Virgin Islands, but with their managers, operations, assets and investors often dispersed globally.
DURING THE PAST YEAR, many investors in the distressed debt market have received postreorganization private equity1 either through a confirmed plan of reorganization or through participation in a rights offering. Unlike publicly traded equity, each new issuance of postreorganization equity leaves recipients, issuers, and agents potentially facing uncharted territory in terms of how the instrument is to trade and settle.
FSA has set out its standards for “key attributes” of effective resolution regimes. The standards require each jurisdiction to:
Through the years, arbitration as a mode of dispute resolution has gained prominence because it promotes party autonomy with minimal court intervention, amongst others.
Anyone with a passing knowledge of derivatives law will be aware of the controversy created by section 2(a)(iii) of the ISDA Master Agreement.1 Differing interpretations of 2(a)(iii) have emerged in litigation in London and the United States since the collapse of Lehman Brothers. The recent judgement of the Court of Appeal in London in Lomas v. JFB Firth Rixson Inc2 brings significant clarity from the English perspective. The decision upholds the interpretation of section 2(a)(iii) favoured by the derivatives market.
Under the 2000 version of the Global Master Repurchase Agreement (the "GMRA"), a standard form agreement produced by The Bond Market Association and the International Securities Market Association, an Event of Default occurs, and all outstanding transactions under the GMRA are accelerated immediately, upon:
On December 1st, the International Swaps and Derivatives Association announced that its EMEA Credit Derivatives Determinations Committee resolved that a bankruptcy credit event occurred in respect of Thomson, a Paris-headquartered company that provides a range of communications products and services. The Committee also voted to hold an auction for Thomson. ISDA will publish the auction terms on its website www.isda.org/credit.
Yesterday the Joint Forum, a group established in 1996 by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS), the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) and the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) to deal with issues common to the banking, securities, and insurance sectors, released “Review of the Differentiated Nature and Scope of Financial Regulation – Key Issues and Recommendations”, which addresses key issues and recommendations on the differenti
Summary
On 1 July 2009, UNCITRAL adopted the Practice Guide on Cross-Border Insolvency Cooperation. The Practice Guide provides a useful reference source on some practical aspects of cooperation and communication to deal with many of the conflicts and tensions between stakeholders and jurisdictions inevitable in cross-border cases. To ease these tensions, it is often essential for creditors and, importantly, the courts concerned to reach agreement about how the process will be handled.
International context