On 15 September 2020, the Minister for the Economy, Investment and Small Businesses issued the Companies Act (Suspension of Filing for Dissolution and Winding Up) Regulations, 2020 (the “Regulations”). These Regulations have been anticipated ever since the publication of Bill 128 of 2020 and introduce a number of changes to Malta’s insolvency laws in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. These changes are summarized and commented upon below.

Suspension of Rights to File for Dissolution

Following the recent Supreme Court decision in Bresco Electrical Services Ltd (In Liquidation) v Michael J Lonsdale (Electrical) Ltd, it is clear that companies in liquidation have the right to adjudicate a dispute. However, a successful adjudication is only half the battle: the insolvent company must still persuade the court to enforce the decision.

Empresas brasileiras têm optado por resolver disputas nacionais e internacionais via arbitragem. Mais recentemente, os impactos econômicos do COVID-19 no Brasil têm causado um aumento considerável do número de recuperações judiciais e falências. Sem expectativa de que essa tendência seja revertida dentro dos próximos meses e, possivelmente, anos, é oportuno indagar: quais seriam os efeitos causados pela nova onda de insolvências em arbitragens brasileiras e internacionais? Veja nossos comentários no documento abaixo.

Following yesterday’s announcement that a number of the temporary measures brought in by the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act (CIGA) to ease pressures on companies most at risk of insolvency during the ongoing Covid-19 crisis are to be extended, we look here at some of the key questions arising under CIGA in the context of the commercial landlord and tenant relationship.

New regulations deriving from the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 have extended the effective prohibition on statutory demands and winding up petitions until 31 December 2020. Tim Symes, a partner in our Insolvency and Commercial Litigation teams, looks at the implications of this for debtors and creditors.

IN BRIEF

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.

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.