In this case, the firm was instructed by the English liquidators of Arck LLP (in liquidation) to assist in the recovery of assets misappropriated from a large number of British investors and channelled through Jersey corporate and trust structures as part of a fraudulent collective investment scheme.
A winding up on 'just and equitable' grounds is a fast evolving remedy which allows a company to avoid a désastre. As in England and certain other jurisdictions, it is a flexible tool, with certain generally accepted grounds for the court exercising its discretion to grant the remedy, such as the need for an investigation into the affairs of the company concerned. Unlike désastre, it is not dependent on the cash flow insolvency of the company concerned and the Royal Court has a broad discretion to tailor the powers it may grant a liquidator to the needs of the situation.
With the enactment of the Ley de Concursos Mercantiles (the “LCM”) in 2000, Mexico took a dramatic step towards modernizing its bankruptcy and insolvency laws. Several years later, in 2007, Mexico took additional steps by enacting a number of reforms aimed to create or clarify the legal framework regarding various important topics that were novel in Mexico, including implementation of a process to obtain approval of pre-negotiated plans.
Recent Developments
The Law on the Amendment to the Income Tax Law and Certain Laws (the "Omnibus Bill") entered into force upon its publication on the Official Gazette No. 30836 dated July 19, 2019. The Omnibus Bill includes provisions for financial restructuring and tax related matters.
What’s New?
Financial Restructuring
Today, Dubai World announced that it has presented a restructuring proposal to the Coordinating Committee representing its creditors on the restructuring of $23.5 billion of total financial liabilities of Dubai World as of December 31, 2009.
Judgment was handed down in the High Court this morning, in a case where recognition of a winding-up of a solvent foreign investment fund was granted under the Cross-Border Insolvency Regulations 2006 ("CBIR").
This is the first time that the English Court has examined in detail the UNCITRAL Model Law on insolvency and the interplay with its Guides to Enactment, as well as case law from various jurisdictions concerning its application to solvent scenarios. Mrs Justice Falk found that:
FSA has won a case in the High Court in which the court held one individual and two businesses were operating a collective investment scheme without authorisation. The court banned James Maynard from selling land for business purposes in the UK for life and made a bankruptcy order against him. It ordered him and Countrywide Land Holdings Limited to pay £31,896,194 to FSA and ordered Plateau Development & Land Limited, now in liquidation, to pay £918,975. Tracey McDermott said there was a low probability of getting meaningful compensation but that FSA had scored an important victory.
Key Issues
The transaction documents (eg ISDA, GMRA or prime brokerage agreements) for derivatives transactions (or other transactions involving netting provisions) are usually governed by English law or New York law. However, there are a number of local law issues which our clients should consider when proposing to enter into such transactions with offshore counterparties, including the following key issues:
The story of the restructuring of carpet-maker, Brintons has featured in the press recently, with emphasis on the role of Carlyle, one of the world's biggest private equity firms. The facts are similar to the Silentnight pre-pack which we featured in a previous bulletin. In each case, the Pensions Regulator is said to be considering using its anti-avoidance powers under the Pensions Act 2004 to compel senior debt holders to pay towards the deficit of the defined benefit pension scheme operated by the company.
Introduction