Under the Act of August 10 2016 modernising the Company Law 1915 (which entered into force on August 23 2016) Luxembourg law now officially recognises that companies can be wound up by means of a simplified procedure. This is an unquestionably useful tool which will further enhance Luxembourg's business-friendly reputation.

Introduction

Luxembourg recently adopted a number of legislative reforms aimed at modernising the rules applicable to commercial companies. In relation to the restructuring and insolvency of Luxembourg-based entities, Parliament is discussing the long-awaited Bill 6539 (the so-called 'Insolvency Bill').

In the meantime, a number of reforms which could affect the restructuring and insolvency of commercial companies have been adopted, including:

There are various winding up procedures to which a Maltese-registered company may be subjected in terms of Maltese law. Amongst the said modes of action is what is known as the members’ voluntary winding up. This refers to the solvent voluntary liquidation of a company and specifically necessitates that the company in questionwill be able to pay off its debts in full within a period not exceeding12 months from the proposed date of dissolution.

General

Earlier this year, both the lower and upper houses of Malaysia’s parliament, passed the Companies Bill 2015 (“theBill”) which will harmonise Malaysia's insolvency laws and bring them more in line with modern international standards. Once the Bill comes into effect (it is currently awaiting Royal Assent), it will replace Malaysia’s existing Companies Act 1965.

1. Introduction

On 29 May 2014, the Moldovan Parliament passed the Act No. 90/2014 on amending and supplementing of certain legislative acts (Act No. 90). Act No.90, which entered into force on 27 June 2014, implements simplified rules on the liquidation of companies in Moldova (in particular, at the decision of their shareholders), namely by inter alia amending the Civil Code of Moldova, Act No. 845/1992 on Entrepreneurship and Enterprises, Act No. 220/2007 on State Registration of Companies and Individual Entrepreneurs.

Mexicana Airlines has reported that it has filed for bankruptcy protection in Mexico and will seek to reorganize. What does this mean for aircraft lessors and other creditors of Mexicana Airlines?  

The Mexican Business Reorganization Act

In a recent judgment, the Dutch Supreme Court ruled that in the event of a bankruptcy whereby the bankruptcy receiver has wrongfully collected receivables which were pledged to a secured creditor and the total value of the assets of the bankrupt estate was insufficient to pay all debts, the bankruptcy receiver was allowed to recover its salary from the proceeds of that wrongful collection with priority over the claim of that secured creditor.

Dutch insolvency practice is increasingly looking for possibilities to effectively restructure failing companies rather than liquidate them in order to safeguard creditors’ interests, and preserve jobs and economic activity. In line with international developments, pre-packs are on the rise and consultation on a bill to regulate pre-packs is currently on-going.

Taking decisions to liquidate companies has become a matter of routine when optimising corporate structures to improve cost efficiency. Increasingly, we see that such decisions have been taken either prematurely or without taking all of the relevant factors into account.