Rising distress? 2022 in statistics31 December 2022

Court exercises discretion to grant examination orders The Court of Appeal affirmed the High Court’s exercise of its discretion to grant orders that a company director be examined in Court notwithstanding that director was involved (as defendant in one instance and as the director of a defendant company in the other) in separate legal proceedings that have been commenced by the liquidator.

Introduction

The civil procedure in the UAE is governed by the Federal Law No 11 of 1992 (Civil Procedure Code) as amended, along with the Cabinet Decisions (including Cabinet Decisions 57 of 2018 and 33 of 2020), and resolutions, etc. issued from time to time. The Civil Procedure Code regulates the procedure for litigation in civil, commercial, administrative, labour and personal status matters. It also governs the procedure of appeals and execution of judgments.

The court system in UAE is hierarchal and operates both at the federal level and a local level.

In two relatively recent but unrelated decisions, the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal has provided helpful guidance in relation to how the Court ought to deal with an application for the appointment of a liquidator in circumstances where the company asserts a cross-claim in an amount exceeding the applicant's debt.

Introduction

In a recent Supreme Court of Victoria decision[1] in which we acted for the successful liquidators, the Court made various orders to enable the company to complete an ultra-efficient, streamlined second voluntary administration to expedite creditor consideration of a new DOCA proposal.

Key points

С 1 апреля 2022 года и до 1 октября 2022 года Правительством РФ введен мораторий на возбуждение дел о банкротстве по заявлениям кредиторов.

The Russian Government has introduced* a moratorium on creditors filing bankruptcy cases from 1 April 2022 and until 1 October 2022.

Late last week, the District Court for the Southern District of New York provided a reminder of the importance of precise drafting. In Transform Holdco LLC v. Sears Holdings Corp. et. al., CV-05782, Doc. 20, the contractual question at issue related to the purchase of substantially all of the assets (and assumption of certain of the liabilities) of Sears and its domestic and foreign subsidiaries by Transform Holdco LLC (“Transform”) in Sears’ bankruptcy case.

The forecast for the English scheme and plan looks set fair despite concerns around Brexit turbulence.

The restructuring market’s appetite for Part 26 schemes of arrangement and Part 26A restructuring plans shows no signs of diminishing, with some debtors (Smile Telecoms and ED&F Man) even taking a second bite of the cherry. In this article, we explore recurring themes identified in the market throughout the past 18 months.

Out of the money, out of the room

A Terceira Turma do Superior Tribunal de Justiça (STJ) deu, por unanimidade, parcial provimento ao Recurso Especial n°. 1.933.995 – SP (REsp), interposto em face da decisão proferida pelo Tribunal de Justiça de São Paulo (TJSP), reafirmando o entendimento de julgados anteriores no sentido de que os créditos do proprietário fiduciário não estão sujeitos aos efeitos da recuperação judicial, independentemente da relação do fiduciante ou do fiduciário com o bem imóvel dado em garantia ou com a própria empresa em recuperação.

A Cayman segregated portfolio company, Performance Insurance Company SPC, was placed into official liquidation. The joint liquidators' appointment extended to all of the underlying segregated portfolios (SPs), some of which were solvent and others insolvent. Two of the solvent SPs applied to the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands seeking the appointment of an additional liquidator of the company to separately represent the interests of those solvent SPs on the basis that the original liquidators were conflicted in administering both the solvent and insolvent SPs.