From a civil litigation and insolvency perspective, we look at the key impacts of the Hong Kong Courts’ recent General Adjournment of Proceedings (GAP) from 7 March 2022 to 11 April 2022 and related governmental closures.
Key Takeaways
1. The recent implementation of GAP has resulted in a de facto stay of new actions and proceedings, and adjournment of existing actions, including bankruptcy and winding-up petitions.
On 18 January 2022, Hong Kong-listed cruise operator Genting Hong Kong Limited ('Genting HK') filed for provisional liquidation with the Supreme Court of Bermuda after it failed to secure access to liquidity. Genting HK has since gone into liquidation.
Background
In a hearing yesterday, 6 April 2022, the High Court considered an application of the directors of VTB Capital PLC (VTB UK) for the appointment of Teneo Financial Advisory Limited as administrators.
In what Mr Justice Fancourt described as “an unusual case in all sorts of ways”, the English High Court was faced with a number of questions relating to how the UK’s insolvency regime can interact with the sanctions packages introduced in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Environment, social, and governance (ESG) are factors directors, investors, industries, and governments increasingly focus on when making commercial decisions. This is particularly so given increasing public awareness of such issues following recurrent environmental disasters and international summits such as COP26. Tim Symes and Ryan Hooton review the current regulatory environment in the UK, how it might bite on a company’s insolvency and when directors may find themselves personally liable for their actions.
1. Introduction
The winding up of insolvent companies in Hong Kong is governed by the Companies (Winding Up and Miscellaneous Provisions) Ordinance (Chapter 32 of the Laws of Hong Kong) (“CWUMPO”), the Companies (Winding-up) Rules (Chapter 32H) (“CWUR”) and case laws. They provide the legal source of civil liabilities for directors, shareholders and senior management.
2. Directors
On March 31, 2022, Ruby Pipeline, L.L.C., a Houston-based operator of a 680-mile natural gas system from Opal, Wyoming, to interconnections near Malin, Oregon, filed a petition for Chapter 11 relief in the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware (Case No. 22-10278). The company reports $500 million to $1 billion in both assets and liabilities.
The 1st April 2022 marks another notable event in the return to ‘normality’, this time for creditors, as restrictions on the issuing of Winding Up Petitions are lifted.
For the first time since restrictions were introduced in June 2020 by the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 (CIGA 2020) (unusually with retrospective applicability to Winding Up Petitions issued after 27 April 2020), creditors are no longer subject to restrictions on when a Winding Up Petition can be issued.
El reconocimiento de un derecho de separación por el atesoramiento abusivo de beneficios supone un mecanismo de protección de la minoría. Su ejercicio, sin embargo, puede resultar perjudicial para la sociedad, que tendrá que abonar al socio saliente el valor de su participación. Por este motivo, siempre se ha planteado la posibilidad de enervar, de algún modo, el ejercicio del derecho. La Sentencia del Tribunal Supremo de 25 de enero se ocupa de un caso de esta naturaleza reconociendo, en un supuesto muy concreto, el carácter abusivo del ejercicio del derecho de separación.
BUSINESS RESTRUCTURING REVIEW VOL. 21 • NO.