Self-application

Basic principle

One of the biggest risks faced by an employer in a construction project is the impact of the main contractor becoming insolvent, particularly in the current economic climate where it has become clear that main contractors are not regarded as being “too big to fail”.

The face of the UK's high streets and shopping centres continues to change rapidly as consumers, shopping and leisure habits change and evolve.

In this latest article in our "future of consumer" series, we look at the continued use of company voluntary arrangements (CVAs) by retailers (and restaurant owners) to reduce their exposure to landlords under their leases and ask what are the trends and the future direction of this restructuring procedure.

The recent Court of Appeal decision inLBI EHF v Raiffeisen Bank International AG [2018] EWCA Civ 719 affirms the wide discretion of the non-Defaulting Party to determine "fair market value" in accordance with the close-out mechanism under paragraph 10(e)(ii) of the standard Global Master Repurchase Agreement (2000 version) ("GMRA").

As a result of the Recast European Insolvency Regulation (“REIR”), which applies to insolvency proceedings commenced since 26 June this year, insolvency practitioners in EU Member States have been given more freedom to commence insolvency-related claims in jurisdictions other than the jurisdiction of the insolvency proceedings (ie the court proceedings by which the affairs of the insolvent company are administered – eg liquidation or administration).

If 2016 ended with more questions than answers as to how Brexit would take shape, 2017 began with at least a little more clarity.

In Brief

For the first time, a court has adopted the ‘centre of main interest’ (COMI) as grounds at common law to recognise foreign insolvency proceedings.

The decision earlier this year by the High Court of Singapore (the Court) recognised a Japanese bankruptcy trustee appointed to companies incorporated in the British Virgin Islands (BVI):

The Privy Council has held that a foreign default judgment can be enforced under the common law where a jurisdiction agreement in favour of that country can be implied or inferred. It is not necessary for there to be an express jurisdiction agreement: Vizcaya Partners Limited v Picard and another (Gibraltar) [2016] UKPC 5.

A speechby Sam Woods of the Bank of England (BoE) says a lot about its approach to Solvency II and leaves a lot more unsaid.

Woods said that he wanted to dispel two myths:

On Friday 5 September, the Spanish Council of Ministers approved Royal Decree Law 11/2014, of 5 September, regarding urgent measures on insolvency. The Royal Decree Law brings in a series of significant reforms to the Spanish Insolvency Act 22/2003, of 9 July (the "Insolvency Act"). The new Royal Decree Law entered into force on 7 September 2014.