Regulations laid before Parliament yesterday seek to extend the current restrictions on the presentation of winding up petitions to 31 December 2020. However, there will inevitably come a time when these temporary restrictions are lifted.

We recently acted for the successful respondent in an appeal against a winding up petition. Arnold Ayoo of 23 Essex Street was instructed.

Introduction

Parliament passed on July 27, 2020, the Time Limits and Other Periods Act (COVID-19) (Time Limits Act), which we summarized in a previous bulletin. Briefly, the Time Limits Act automatically suspends statutory time limits for federal civil proceedings for six months and grants federal ministers the power to issue orders extending statutory and regulatory time limits in a range of areas.

In brief

EIGHTH CIRCUIT BANKRUPTCY MONITOR

NCLAT: Decree holder cannot be classified as a financial creditor for the purpose of initiating Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 II. Supreme Court: Limitation period for an application under Section 7 of the IBC for initiation of CIRP is three years from the date of default III. NCLAT: IBC has no bar for the 'Promoter' to file 'resolution application', even if otherwise not eligible in terms of Section 29A IV. Consumer Protection Act, 2019: An analysis

The new UK Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act (CIGA), which took effect in June 2020, ushers in permanent changes to the English insolvency and restructuring landscape as well as temporary, and largely retrospective, measures to help mitigate the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The three permanent additions are:

When someone dies, it is not always clear whether or not their estate is insolvent. It can take time, particularly with complex estates, for assets and liabilities to be identified and claims by creditors to be brought. Personal representatives (“PRs”) and their advisors need to be alive to the prospect of an estate being insolvent and take action swiftly to ensure their financial exposure is minimised and consider how best to administer the estate for the benefit of estate creditors rather than beneficiaries.

Alerts and Updates

The Third Circuit’s ruling in In re Tribune provides important insight on what it means for a plan to unfairly discriminate.

In ACN 004 410 833 Ltd (formerly Arrium Limited) (in liq) v Michael Thomas Walton [2020] NSWCA 157, the NSW Court of Appeal clarified the scope of examination and production orders for investigative purposes in a potential shareholder class actions.

The case concerned shareholders of Arrium seeking to utilise the examination process under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) to effectively determine the viability of possible claims that could be brought against Arrium Ltd (in liq) (Arrium), its directors and auditor.

In brief