Introduction – the framework

When executing public M&A transactions, dealmakers need to understand local market practice as well as the local regulatory environment.

New Rules for Imposing Personal Liability on Directors of Insolvent Companies

When a company enters into an insolvency process, a director may be made personally liable for an insolvent company’s debts on a few limited bases under the Insolvency Act 1986, the most common of which are:

1. wrongful trading: if the director knew or ought to have known that there was no reasonable prospect of avoiding insolvent liquidation and he did not take every step necessary with a view to minimising the loss to creditors;

Recent Development

On July 31, 2016, the Council of Ministers issued the third executive order on the implementation of the current state of emergency ("Executive Order"). The Executive Order amends several laws and regulations; discharges certain members of the military linked to the Fethullah Terrorist Organization (FETO); establishes a national defense university; introduces rules related to the education system of the members of the military; and prohibits the implementation of the bankruptcy suspension mechanism for companies.

BEIS has just published the Government's response to its March 2018 consultation on "Insolvency and Corporate Governance" reforms. The response identifies a number of proposals for reform, as summarised below:

Action to improve the insolvency framework in the cases of major failure

Background and Summary

The English scheme of arrangement (“Scheme”) has found particular utility throughout the European Union (the “EU”) and internationally as a restructuring tool for both foreign and UK companies alike. Providing creditors with access to a court sanctioned compromise procedure (which can be used prior to formal insolvency), the Scheme has combined flexibility with a high degree of commercial and procedural certainty for all involved, including creditors.

DBI 2017 - A5 With Bleed.indd 3 20.02.2017 8:22:56 Doing Business in Russia 2017 Baker & McKenzie - CIS, Limited Moscow Office White Gardens, 10th Floor 9 Lesnaya Street Moscow 125047, Russia Telephone: +7 495 787 27 00 Fax: +7 495 787 27 01 [email protected] St. Petersburg Office BolloevCenter, 2nd Floor 4A Grivtsova Lane St.

The Singapore Ministry of Law will introduce the COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) Bill (the Bill) in Parliament next week to address the impact of COVID-19 on businesses and individuals' ability to fulfil their contractual obligations. The Bill will also make some temporary changes relating to bankruptcy and insolvency.

The Bill will apply to various categories of contracts, including:

Not for the first time in the current pandemic crisis, the UK government has found itself playing catch up with other countries. Over the weekend the UK followed the lead of governments in Germany and Australia by announcing plans to introduce a temporary relaxation of the existing wrongful trading regime for company directors. It has also taken the opportunity to revive the previous government's plans to add to the existing UK insolvency law "toolkit" by introducing a new debtor-friendly restructuring law.

Wrongful trading

Unlike the GFC, which was essentially a liquidity crisis, Australia is likely to face a gradual increase in business insolvencies, rather than the feared ‘insolvency cliff’, as the Federal Government’s COVID-19 stimulus measures are wound down at the end of March.