A year ago, many predicted that the COVID-19 stay-at-home orders and social distancing guidelines and their impact on the economy would result in a deluge of bankruptcy filings that could rival the Great Recession of 2008-2009. However, as we approach the one-year anniversary of former President Trump declaring the SARS-CoV-2 novel coronavirus a national emergency, that prediction has not come to pass.

What were the major developments in the Cayman market in 2020?

Private credit lenders started 2020 both with anticipation and trepidation. Activity levels were strong and default levels were at historic lows, but private credit lenders worried about the risk of economic headwinds – after all, we were then in the extra innings of the longest economic recovery on record.

Status as of 17/02

Table of Content

• 1 Financial Support Measures
• 2 Capital Markets
• 3 Employment
• 4 Real Estate & Construction
• 5 Tax & Duties
• 6 Corporate, M&A
• 7 EU & Competition
• 8 Courts and Authorities
• 9 Healthcare
• 10 Insolvency & Restructuring
• 11 Insurance
• 12 Intellectual Property
• 13 Telecom & Data Protection
• 14 Other

1 Financial Support Measures

General partner-led fund restructurings accounted for the majority of private equity secondaries volume in 2020 as managers sought liquidity in a flat exit market

Private equity (PE) fund general partners (GPs) faced a challenging year for returning cash to their investors, leading many to turn to GP-led fund restructurings to create liquidity for investors as fund lives expire.

Businesses are facing unprecedented challenges as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. For some businesses, the impact has been immediate such as in the travel and events industries where sales have come to a sudden halt. For many other client facing businesses, such as in the hospitality and retail industries, revenues have taken a sharp decline due to social distancing measures. The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy are expected to continue well after the easing of restrictions and re-opening of various sectors of the economy.

While there has been much fuss over the recent ruling by the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York in In re Nine West LBO Securities Litigation¹ due to its potential ramifications for director liability, as we explored in Part I of our series on this case here, court watchers have paid less attention to the court’s treatment of officer liability and the interes

This article was originally published in Law360. Any opinions in this article are not those of Winston & Strawn or its clients. The opinions in this article are the authors' opinions only.

In Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. v. 50509 Marine LLC et al.[1] the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit held that the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. can recover an employer's defined benefit pension plan termination liability--often millions of dollars--from controlled group members that did not even exist when the contributing employer liquidated years earlier.[2]

Businesses are facing unprecedented challenges as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. For some businesses, the impact has been immediate such as in the travel and events industries where sales have come to a sudden halt. For many other client facing businesses, such as in the hospitality and retail industries, revenues have taken a sharp decline due to social distancing measures. The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy are expected to continue well after the easing of restrictions and re-opening of various sectors of the economy.

New guarantee facility, extension of ERTE temporary layoff procedures, effects of the crisis on transfer pricing, return to judicial activity and ‘shields’ for businesses.