Executive Summary
Investors in LMA-based intercreditor agreements1 (ICA) should be reassured by the commercial approach recently taken by the High Court in construing the "Distressed Disposal" provisions (DD Provisions).
Bouwen met vertrouwen: insolventie-gerelateerde aandachtspunten voor opdrachtgevers in bouwcontracten
Following several years of declining recuperações judiciais filings in Brazil, nearly 600 companies requested court protection in the first six months of 2023, a 52% increase over the same period in 2022.
Total filings remain below the number seen between 2016-2018, when Brazil went through one of its worst economic crises. However, there is a clear separation from the lower number of filings during the pandemic years of 2020-2022, when there was an increase in government support and creditors were more patient.
For a foreign decree to be recognisable in Switzerland, it is according to the Swiss International Private Law Act, required that the foreign bankruptcy decree is enforceable in the state where it was issued, and there must not be any grounds for refusing recognition, e.g. a violation of Swiss public policy. Furthermore, the decision must have been issued either in the state where the debtor has its seat or domicile or in the state where the debtor has its centre of main interests.
Where a bankruptcy order is set aside after a successful appeal by the debtor, who should be liable for the fees and expenses of the trustees in bankruptcy (whether the Official Receiver (as provisional trustee) or trustees appointed by the creditors)? Should such fees and expenses be borne by the bankruptcy estate, or should the unsuccessful petitioner bear those costs on the basis the bankruptcy order ought not to have been made in the first place?
The Court of Appeal has given valuable and clear guidance on the circumstances in which applications during an ongoing liquidation may constitute ‘final decisions’ for the purpose of bringing appeals to His Majesty in Council pursuant to the Virgin Islands (Appeals to Privy Council) Order 1967 ( the “1967 Order”). The issue can be an important one in practice – final decisions only require formal or procedural permission to appeal, whereas non-final decisions require substantive permission, based on merit or public importance.
Introduction
In commercial contracts, it is not uncommon to find provisions allowing for contractual discretion on the part of one or more parties, such as the discretion to vary certain interest or payment terms, to choose a port of delivery, or an option to purchase. While such provisions give a certain amount of decision-making power to the party that has been conferred the discretion, they are not without limit. These limits were explored in the Singapore High Court decision of Maybank Singapore Ltd v Synergy Global Resources Pte Ltd [2023] SGHC 258.
What rate of interest should a debtor pay under a bankruptcy plan?
Even if the statutory conditions for cramming down the votes of dissenting creditors has been met, the court retains a discretion to consider other factors
Certain statutory conditions need to be met in order for the court to sanction a plan at least one class of creditors or members has not voted in favour of the plan by the requisite majority (being 75% in value of those present and voting) – referred to as the "cross-class cram down".
On 22 Sept 2023, the Australian government responded to the Whittaker Review, releasing the Personal Property Securities Amendment Bill 2023 for public consultation until 17 Nov 2023.
Overview of the Whittaker review and Government's response