The recent case of The Joint Official Liquidators of A Company v B and Another has confirmed that a liquidator of a foreign company can seek the Hong Kong Companies Court’s assistance by applying for orders for the production of information and documents without the need to also apply to wind up that company in Hong Kong.

Background

The High Court in Hong Kong recently examined the circumstances in which a liquidator was able to depart from their implied duty not to disclose documents obtained from third parties under statute or in the furtherance of their legal duty.

In a further development to cross-border insolvency cooperation between Hong Kong and Mainland China, the Hong Kong Court has issued a letter of request to a Mainland Court requesting recognition and assistance of Hong Kong liquidators appointed over a Cayman company, under the mutual recognition arrangement introduced on 14 May 2021 (the “Arrangement“, see our previous update here

Insurance Regulatory Briefing

HM Treasury Consults on Amendments to Insurer Insolvency Regime

2 AUGUST 2021

London

Table of contents

Recent proposals to amend insolvency rules applying to insurers aim to enhance and clarify existing powers for a court-ordered write-down of an insurer's policy and other contractual liabilities under Section 377 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 ("FSMA"). Other proposed measures include:

1. The Case for Change 2. The Proposed Changes 3. Contacts

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A recent decision illustrates the court’s approach to providing non-party access to documents referred to at a public hearing, in the context of a proposed scheme of arrangement: Re Port Finance Investment Ltd [2021] EWHC 454 (Ch).

We are pleased to announce the publication of the third edition of the Herbert Smith Freehills Guide to Restructuring, Turnaround and Insolvency, Asia Pacific.

Against a backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting economic downturn, we are seeing companies and lenders respond to a new and challenging business environment. The challenges associated with this new environment are further exacerbated as the influencing factors change in nature and intensity.

The Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 introduces sweeping insolvency reforms in response to the business impacts of Covid-19, designed “to give companies breathing space and keep trading while they explore options for rescue”. Our UK Restructuring, Turnaround and Insolvency team have published an article in International Corporate Rescue which considers the key elements of the reforms.

The Government on 20 May 2020 published the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Bill, which contains the most far-reaching reforms to UK insolvency law in over 30 years. The Bill has been introduced on an emergency basis in an attempt to ensure that otherwise financially viable companies survive during a period of unprecedented interruption and turmoil. However, it could upset the delicate balance between debtors and creditors under UK insolvency law.

The Australian Federal Government has now passed temporary amendments to insolvency and corporations laws in light of the challenges COVID-19 poses to many otherwise profitable and viable businesses.

In But Ka Chon v Interactive Brokers LLC [2019] HKCA 873, the Hong Kong Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal to set aside a statutory demand arising out of online forex futures trading debts.