Recently, several courts have added to the growing body of decisions construing intercreditor agreements in bankruptcy cases.
The court offers guidance on reversing lawful dividend payments and when directors need to take intoaccount creditors’ interests.
On 6 February 2019, the UK Court of Appeal published a judgment in BTI v. Sequana that will impact both creditors and directors of English companies.
The reform of claw-back rights in German insolvency proceedings which provides for more legal certainty for creditors has become effective on 5 April 2017.
In light of the UK’s cram down and director-friendly processes, in particular its scheme of arrangement model, major European economies such as France, Germany and Italy have worked hard to develop regimes that give greater emphasis to pre-insolvency alternatives. These new regimes create cram down mechanisms and encourage debtor-in-possession (DIP) financings, ultimately aiming to make restructuring plans more accessible, more efficient, and crucially more reliable; essentially more in tune with the Anglo-American approach to insolvency and restructuring.
German Federal Court of Justice decision paves the way for bond restructurings under 2009 Bonds Act.
The Spanish Congress has approved important amendments into the so-called Spanish scheme of arrangements, to facilitate Spanish company refinancings.
Recent bankruptcy appellate rulings have addressed the issue of what rights a trademark licensee has after a debtor-licensor rejects its trademark license in bankruptcy.
“In chapter 11, a creditor should be able to assert the full amount of any guarantee claim against the debtor without reducing the claim for recoveries against another obligor.”
“Whether the Nortel Senior Notes will be entitled to post-petition interest, and at what rate, in the chapter 11 cases are open questions that may hinge, among other things, on proving solvency of the Nortel chapter 11 debtors.”
3V Capital Master Fund LTD. v. Official Comm. of Unsecured Creditors of TOUSA, Inc. (In re TOUSA, Inc.), 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14019 (S.D. Fla. Feb. 11, 2011).
Proposed changes to UK insolvency laws aim to support companies under pressure due to COVID-19.
On 28 March 2020, the UK government announced a number of reforms to UK insolvency laws: