Effective from 1 August 2022, a new Restructuring Act (Sw. lag om företagsrekonstruktion), which implements the EU Directive on restructuring and insolvency (the "Restructuring Directive"), comes into force in Sweden. As further explained below, the aim of the new Restructuring Act is to improve the Swedish restructuring regime by introducing a number of new features previously unknown to Swedish law.

The Cayman Islands Government has published a Commencement Order confirming that the Companies (Amendment) Act, 2021 will come into force on 31 August 2022.

The Amendment Act introduces a new corporate restructuring process and the concept of a dedicated restructuring officer into the Cayman Islands Companies Act (2022 Revision).

Under the Amendment Act, the filing of a petition for the appointment of a restructuring officer will trigger an automatic global moratorium on claims against the company, giving it the opportunity to seek to implement a restructuring.

A company experiencing financial difficulties is not necessarily a cause for alarm, as it is part of the natural cycle of a business generally. If, however, the directors are concerned about the financial position of their company, they should seek professional advice on the next steps to improve the company’s financial position and to protect themselves from any actions being taken against them personally for breach of their director’s duties.

State laws on assignments for benefit of creditors (“ABC”) have been around for a long time. But times have changed over the last half-century. Specifically, the bankruptcy alternative has changed dramatically:

Key Point

• The UK government's proposals to only partially implement a new UNCITRAL Model Law means that creditors of English law debts who do not consent to a foreign restructuring proceeding will still have recourse to enforcing their rights against the debtor's UK-based assets.

English Law Is Still a Special Situation

Law 216 of 14 July 2022 amends and supplements Law 85/2014 on insolvency prevention and insolvency proceedings and other legislation. The new law transposes the business prevention mechanisms introduced at European level by Directive 2019/1023.

The amendments to the insolvency law implement the business prevention mechanisms imposed by Directive 2019/1023 and clarify certain concepts and ways of action that were hitherto left to the discretion of the parties or to different interpretations by the courts.

Historically, the Hong Kong courts have generally recognised foreign insolvency proceedings commenced in the jurisdiction in which the company is incorporated. This may no longer be the case in Hong Kong following the recent decision of Provisional Liquidator of Global Brands Group Holding Ltd v Computershare Hong Kong Trustees Ltd [2022] HKCFI 1789 (Global Brands).

Curtea Europeană de Justiție a Uniunii Europene a decis recent că Articolul 2 alineatul (2) și articolul 12 literele (a) și (c) din Directiva 2008/94/CE a Parlamentului European și a Consiliului din 22 octombrie 2008 privind protecția lucrătorilor salariați în cazul insolvenței angajatorului, astfel cum a fost modificată prin Directiva (UE) 2015/1794 a Parlamentului European și a Consiliului din 6 octombrie 2015, trebuie interpretate în sensul că se opun unei jurisprudențe naționale potrivit căreia o persoană care exercită în mod cumulativ, în temeiul

In Re Tantleff, Alan [2022] SGHC 147, the Singapore High Court considered for the first time whether the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency (30 May 1997) (the "UNCITRAL Model Law") as enacted under the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act 2018 ("IRDA") (the "Singapore Model Law") applies to real estate investment trusts ("REITs").

Is the rule in Gibbs justifiable in the context of modern international insolvency laws or is England clinging to an outdated rule simply to keep restructurings here? The rule stems from an 1890 Court of Appeal Case, which holds that only English courts can validate the compromise or discharge of English law governed debt. The rule cuts across the trend of increased cross-border cooperation in insolvency matters – commonly described as the “modified universalist” approach and critics see the rule as a relic of a more Anglo-centric approach to insolvency law.