In Short:

The Situation: In Bakhshiyeva v Sberbank of Russia, a debtor sought to restructure English law-governed debts pursuant to an Azerbaijani restructuring proceeding. In order to prevent certain dissenting creditors from commencing enforcement proceedings against the debtor in the UK, the debtor asked the English court to provide an indefinite stay.

Ranking of claims payable to the government in respect of refunded subsidies depends on when they were granted

Judgment by the Supreme Court (Chamber One), November 20, 2018

Chronological parameters must be used when classifying claims arising from the obligation to refund subsidies. Accordingly, if the subsidies were granted before the insolvency order, the claim in respect of the refunded subsidy must be a pre-insolvency claim whereas if the subsidy was granted after the insolvency order, the claim for the refund must be a post-insolvency claim.

Cross-border insolvency law has been gaining importance in the EU’s legal system over the past few decades. Harmonising insolvency laws is a difficult process as the legal framework interacts with a myriad of domestic laws. In order to increase the effectiveness of cross-border insolvency proceedings, the original Council Regulation (EC) No 1346/2000 of 29 May 2000 on insolvency proceedings was replaced by new Regulation (EU) 2015/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 2015 the Insolvency Proceedings (Recast) Regulation (the “Recast”).

El rango de los créditos a favor de la Administración por restitución de subvenciones depende del momento de su concesión

Sentencia de la Sala Primera del Tribunal Supremo de 20 de noviembre de 2018

Welcome to this month's edition of our commercial and tech update, covering a wide range of topics from Facebook's lacklustre approach in dealing with IP infringement to further confirmation on the Courts' approach to liquidated damages.

(Mis)Adventures in advertising

Within the European Union, cross-border insolvency is governed by the Regulation on Insolvency Proceedings.[1] Since Switzerland is not a member state of the EU, the EU Regulation does not directly apply to cross-border insolvency matters that are related to Switzerland, which significantly complicated the conducting of such proceedings.

At the beginning of a new year it is customary to consider what the year ahead may bring. 2019 promises to be eventful not least with the UK's (planned) exit from the EU on 29 March 2019. Here's what to look out for in the next 12 months…

Brexit

All three institutions of the European Union have now approved the EU Preventive Restructuring Framework Directive. This is the EU's first attempt to "harmonise" insolvency laws across the Member States, that have disparate existing legislation. What does the Directive do and what will be its effect in practice?

The Directive

Certainty is a key element in any business planning. For corporate restructuring practitioners who are planning or working on cross border transactions, the uncertainty relating to Brexit and the departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union ("EU") may have long-term significant consequences and a "no-deal" Brexit (without a withdrawal agreement and the certainty of a transition period) will have immediate and significant consequences for any such cross-border transaction.

Certainty is a key element in any business planning. For corporate restructuring practitioners who are planning or working on cross border transactions, the uncertainty relating to Brexit and the departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union (“EU”) may have long-term significant consequences and a “no-deal” Brexit (without a withdrawal agreement and the certainty of a transition period) will have immediate and significant consequences for any such cross-border transaction.