After a long and arduous litigation Jet Airways’ insolvency woes have finally reached a conclusion. At least that is the hope unless the litigation is taken to the Supreme Court. Having said that, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (“NCLAT”) in its decision dated 12.03.2024, in Company Appeal (AT) (Insolvency) No. 129 & 130 of 2023, approved the transfer of ownership of Jet Airways to the Jalan Kalrock Consortium (“JKC”). This hopefully leads the path for the commencement of a new era for the airline.

The High Court has handed down an important decision confirming that an unrecognised foreign judgment can be used to form the basis of a bankruptcy petition.

In rejecting the bankrupt’s appeal, the court confirmed that a debt arising pursuant to such a judgment is capable of constituting a “debt” for the purposes of section 267 Insolvency Act 1986 (the Act), despite the fact that the underlying judgment had not been the subject of recognition proceedings in England.

Facts

引言

自2022年5月起，上市公司“携带”未到期可转债进入预重整或重整程序的案例逐步在A股视野中涌现。截至目前，重整计划成功执行并顺利处置可转债违约风险的只有*ST正邦（002157）和*ST全筑（603030）两个案例。作为一种上市公司破产重整领域的新兴产品，由于可转债具有债权性、股权性和二级市场可交易等特点，较重整中的其他普通债权更具特殊性，给上市公司破产重整提出了“新课题”，应当在重整中进行定制化处理。

可转债在上市公司破产重整中的处理方式保持了其作为金融工具“进可攻，退可守”的特点，债券持有人可以选择到期兑付、转卖或转股。因此，重整方案设计中最为核心的是保护可转债原持有人在可转债产品项下的合法权利。通常做法为保留可转债持有人一定期限的交易及转股权利，利用可转债的特殊规则为持有人做好权利保护衔接，实现上市公司与持有人的利益共赢。

本文谨从可转债的特殊性及权利保护措施、实践中主要案例总结及重整方案设计要点等三个方面展开，对存续可转债在上市公司破产重整中的处理方式进行总结和探讨。

一、可转债的特殊性及权利保护

（一）可转债的特殊性

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Businesses often rely on trade credit insurance to protect themselves from customers’ inability to pay for products or services. An interesting question that arose recently in the Indian insolvency context was that when a creditor’s claim for pending dues is paid out by an insurer, can the creditor, having received such pay-out, maintain an insolvency action against the debtor? The National Company Law Tribunal (“NCLAT”) has answered this in the affirmative.

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The latest government insolvency statistics highlight that the downturn in the UK economy is still taking a significant toll and the number of UK corporate insolvencies in February 2024 remains high (and 17% higher compared to February 2023).

Latest insolvency statistics

February 2024 saw 2,102 company insolvencies, the highest February figures for at least four years.

A Massachusetts Bankruptcy Court’s recent appellate decision in Blumsack v. Harrington (In re Blumsack) leaves the door open for those employed in the cannabis industry to seek bankruptcy relief where certain conditions are met.

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