This article was first published in Getting the Deal Through - Ship Finance: Updates and Trends and is reproduced with permission.

The terms of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU will inevitably dictate the extent to which Brexit impacts upon financial agreements. As this stage, it is important to consider the clauses which may have to be reviewed.

In the recent case of Greece v Stroumpoulis on 25 February 2016, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) decided that EU protections under the Insolvency Directive apply to EU residents working in the EU, regardless of whether their employer is an EU company. The ECJ reached this decision based on the social objective of the Insolvency Directive, irrespective of the maritime waters on which the vessel sailed.

On 9 July 2013, the European Commission adopted a proposal for a new Directive on package travel and assisted travel arrangements to replace the Package Travel Directive¹ (the Directive) which has been long thought to have become outdated in the face of the growth of the internet and the “dynamic packaging” industry. Following extensive consultation with industry representatives and trade bodies, an amended version of the Commission’s proposal was adopted by the European Parliament on 12 March 2014 (the Proposed Directive).

This briefing looks at the measures being taken by the Singapore government to support businesses and meet the challenges posed by Covid-19, with the introduction of the Covid-19 (Temporary Measures) Act 2020 (the Act)¹, and the Registrar's Circular No, 4 of 2020: Updates on Measures Relating to Covid-19², focussing on:

In a recent landmark judgment, the Singapore High Court has ruled that it has the power to alter priorities between maritime claimants in “exceptional circumstances”.

In THE POSIDON (2017) SGHC 138, Piraeus Bank (Bank) commenced two mortgagee actions in Singapore, arising from the ship owner’s default under a loan agreement, and arrested two vessels, THE POSIDON and THE PEGASUS. These vessels were subsequently sold by judicial sale.

The insolvency of Hanjin Shipping (Hanjin), the world's seventh largest container line, is likely to have a significant impact throughout the maritime sector. In this briefing we provide an overview of some of the potential consequences of Hanjin's insolvency and which parties will be most affected by this development.

Background

Most commodities contracts are cross border, often with one or more parties located in a country where gaining access or cooperation to enforce an arbitration award or court judgment can be challenging.

If your counterparty is in a ‘difficult’ country, is there any point in incurring the time and cost of pursuing a claim in arbitration or litigation against them at all? Alternatively, do you already have awards or judgments against parties that you have not found a way to enforce? Are they worth any more than the paper they are written on?

Le 1^er 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.

Briefings

Navigating the tension between private dispute resolution and insolvency class actions, March 2018

In Lasmos Limited v. Southwest Pacific Bauxite (HK) Limited1, the Hong Kong Court of First Instance dismissed a winding-up petition based on an unsatisfied statutory demand.

The Hong Kong Court of First Instance (CFI) has issued a judgment1 examining the instances in which the Hong Kong courts will exercise their jurisdiction to wind-up a foreign company.

In a welcome decision the CFI has made it clear that, given certain conditions, creditors will be able to enlist the winding-up jurisdiction of the Hong Kong courts in order to exert pressure on foreign companies which refuse to pay their debts.