In its judgment on the 23 January 2023, the First Hall Civil Court (Commercial Section) (hereinafter the “Court”) presided by Mr. Justice Ian Spiteri Bailey delved into the salient features of a request made to the court for the dissolution and winding up of a company by a creditor or creditors of such company by means of an application in terms of Article 218(1) of the Companies Act, Chapter 386 of the Laws of Malta (the “Act”).
In a landmark decision delivered on the 11th January 2023, in the names ‘Av. Jonathan Abela Fiorentino noe vs Eolia Limited’ (case no. 68/2022 ISB), the Civil Court (Commercial Section) rejected the application filed by defendant company demanding the Court to order a retrial of the liquidation proceedings that led to the company being placed into liquidation.
This decision constitutes the first occasion on which the Court pronounced itself on this specific legal matter, since the issue was previously untested.
On the 9 of March earlier this year, the Court of Appeal (Civil Division) in the UK dismissed an appeal and confirmed that when an electronic money institution (“EMI”) is placed into administration, it was not necessary to impose a statutory trust in order to fulfil the purposes of the safeguarding provisions under EMD (Electronic Money Directive 2009/110) and PSDII (Payment Services Directive 2015/2366) considering that the spirit of both Directives was solely to preserve the sums paid by the EMI’s customers in the case of insolvency and against its other creditors.
The Insolvency Practitioners Act, the Pre-Insolvency Act and the Commercial Code (Amendment) Act were passed by the House of Representatives on the 14th of December 2022 and were assented to by the President on the 23rd of December 2022.
In East-West Logistics LLP v Melars Group Ltd [2022] EWCA Civ 1419 the Court of Appeal once again considered the test for establishing the location of a debtor's centre of main interests (COMI) for the purposes of the Recast Regulation on Insolvency Proceedings 2015/848. The case was a second appeal considering whether to uphold the dismissal of a winding up order on the grounds that the debtor's COMI was not in the United Kingdom.
The Insolvency Practitioners Bill (‘the Bill’) is at its second reading in Parliament. The Bill is intended to partially transpose EU Directive 2019/1023 (‘the Directive’) on preventive restructuring frameworks, on discharge of debt and disqualifications, and on measures to increase the efficiency of procedures concerning restructuring, insolvency and discharge of debt.
As the economic crisis continues to deepen, several of our contributors in South Europe have been focusing on matters relating to insolvency in the transport industry.
It is often said that failure is an essential step of learning. Business failure is an inherent process of economic activity so much so that it is estimated that some 200,000 firms in the European Union go bankrupt annually in the European Union. Around half of new operations fail to get through the first five years, and bankruptcies usually account for 15% of such failures.
The Pre-Insolvency Bill (‘the Bill’) is at its second reading in Parliament. The Bill is being proposed as an Act to partially transpose EU Directive 2019/1023 (‘the Directive’) on preventive restructuring frameworks, on discharge of debt and disqualifications, and on measures to increase the efficiency of procedures concerning restructuring, insolvency and discharge of debt. In short, new legal tools are being provided in a bid to rescue viable businesses in distress from entering into a state of insolvency.
Early in October, three new Bills were tabled to Parliament: a Bill to amend the Commercial Code provisions on Bankruptcy, a Pre-Insolvency Bill, and a Bill to regulate Insolvency Practitioners. These Bills intend to partially transpose the EU Directive 2019/1023 on preventive restructuring frameworks. The aim of the Directive is to encourage Member States to implement measures that enable the early detection of financial difficulties to avoid insolvency altogether, failing which, there could be a smoother transition into insolvent liquidation.