In its recent judgment involving the PAS Group of companies[1], the Federal Court held that rent payable by the PAS Group during an extension of the period in which an administrator had been excused from personal liability (Standstill Period) is an expense properly incurred by a ‘relevant authority in carrying on the company’s business’ and is therefore a priority debt under s 556(1)(a) of the Corporations

In In re Rogers Morris, 2020 WL 1321894 (Bankr. N.D. Miss. Mar. 16, 2020), the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Mississippi contributed to an existing split among the courts by joining the majority view in holding that a creditor may exercise setoff rights after the confirmation of a plan in a bankruptcy case.

Having successfully obtained a public interest winding-up order in Re PAG Management Services Limited [2015] BCC 720 which operated a business rates avoidance scheme using Members’ Voluntary Liquidations, the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy unsuccessfully tackled its successor in the Court of Appeal.

The scheme in this case (Scheme 3) was a variant upon two earlier schemes, Scheme 2 being no longer in operation following the public interest winding-up of PAG Management Services Limited.

In this article, we examine the repercussions of Debenhams Retail Ltd, Re [2020] EWCA Civ 600

Background

Enforcement options in England & Wales – recent High Court judgment provides rare guidance on Orders for Questioning

Once the litigation or arbitration has been fought and you obtain a judgment in your favour, if your opponent does not pay up, a new process will begin in attempting to enforce that judgment.

Although Japan has so far been successful in keeping COVID-19 cases relatively low, the economy has been heavily hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and the government’s request for self-restraint. The number of bankruptcy cases in Japan has been increasing due to such economic impact and unfortunately, the number is expected to continue to grow in various industries. This Newsletter provides an outline of general bankruptcy proceedings in Japan and the impact of COVID-19 on bankruptcy practice.

Overview of Bankruptcy Proceedings in Japan

With data privacy issues constantly in the news, what do businesses need to know about handling personal information when they’re considering bankruptcy, especially if some personal information – like customer records – may be a valuable asset?

Litigation funders in Australia are now subject to increased regulation following the passing of the Corporations Amendment (Litigation Funding) Regulations 2020 (Cth). The amendments apply to schemes or arrangements entered into on or after 22 August 2020.

On 30 July 2020, the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act 2018 (IRDA) came into operation. The IRDA is an omnibus legislation housing all of Singapore’s insolvency and restructuring laws in one single piece of legislation.

The general framework of the IRDA has been discussed in the first article in our series of articles covering the various aspects of IRDA and can be found here.

The long-running saga between Shandong Chenming Paper Holdings (“Shandong Chenming“) and Arjowiggins HKK2 Ltd (“Arjowiggins“) has continued with the Court of Appeal handing down its judgment on an appeal against a lower court judgment which had dismissed Shandong Chenming’s application to injunct Arjowiggins from presenting a winding-up petition against Shandong Chenming (Shandong Chenming Paper Holdings Limited v. Arjowiggins HKK2 Limited [2020] HKCA 670).