This article looks at some recent developments in the bankruptcy and insolvency laws in Singapore and Malaysia.

Singapore: Dispositions of property

Under the Singapore bankruptcy law, any disposition of property made by a bankrupt since the day of making the application for the bankruptcy order is void unless the court consents to, or ratifies, the disposition. This rule is enshrined in section 328 of the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act, 2018 (the IRDA).

During the second trimester of 2021, 9 petitions in bankruptcy were filed, notified, and registered on the Federal Insolvency Institute's records.

ABC Aerolíneas, S. A. de C. V. (Interjet).

Although Interjet announced its plan to file a voluntary petition in bankruptcy, a creditor filed an involuntary petition against the airline before a District Court in Mexico City. The involuntary petition was admitted on Abril 24, 2021 and Interjet appeared voluntarily to be served to process on June 21, 2021.

A recent case before bankruptcy judge Karen B. Owens of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, In re Dura Auto. Sys., LLC, No. 19-12378 (KBO), 2021 WL 2456944 (Bankr. D. Del. June 16, 2021), provides a cautionary reminder that the Third Circuit does not recognize the doctrine of implied assumption (i.e., assumptions implied through a course of conduct as opposed to those that are assumed pursuant to a motion and court order).

In brief

On 14 May 2021, the Supreme People’s Court (SPC) and the Hong Kong government agreed a framework (“Framework”) for judicial cooperation in corporate insolvency and debt restructuring. Under the Framework:

This was first published in the LexisNexis Insolvency Law Bulletin (Vol. 21, No. 5 & 6).

This article is co-authored by Justin Ward of Litigation Capital Management and Marcel Fernandes of 12 Wentworth Selborne Chambers.

We anticipate a more assertive regulatory enforcement program under the Biden administration, particularly focused on fund managers’ conflicts of interest, advisers’ codes of ethics, and related policies and procedures relating to material nonpublic information. These concerns may be heightened for fund managers participating in bankruptcy proceedings, where competing fiduciary obligations arise, particularly in the context of serving on creditors committees.

The Federal Court has recently confirmed that liquidators are able to assign their rights to examine people and to obtain the production of documents.

Liquidators may now find that there is greater interest from litigation funders to purchase potential claims that have not been fully investigated.

Overview

As we reported, on June 21, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to revisit the rigid Brunner standard for determining “undue hardship” capable of discharging student debt. The same day, United States Bankruptcy Judge Michelle M.

1. Hurricane Energy PLC: Restructuring Plan

(A) Convening Hearing

Section 90-15 of the Insolvency Practice Schedule (the IPS) confers on Courts wide powers to adjust rights related to companies in external administration. Here, the administrators of a mining group obtained orders approving their entry into a deed to fund the ongoing operation of the group pending sale and limiting their liability under the deed to the company’s assets. The Court accepted the administrators’ evidence that this funding was urgently required to continue the Group’s operations pending a sale, the prospects of which were thereby maximised.