^{"Whenever there is change, and whenever there is uncertainty, there is opportunity."Mark Cuban, American businessman and investor}

In the current global market, very few things are clear other than that volatility and change are ever-present.

This week’s TGIF examines a recent decision of the NSW Supreme Court which considered whether funds held in certain bank accounts of a failed Ponzi scheme should be returned to investors or paid to creditors of the companies.

What happened?

Since freezing orders were obtained by ASIC in 2017, details surrounding the infamous Courtenay House ‘Ponzi’ scheme operated from a small office at Westfield in Bondi have slowly emerged.

The Companies Act 2006 (Strategic Report and Directors' Report) Regulations 2013 (Regulations) to amend the structure of UK annual reports have been published and laid before Parliament.

In Ambiente Ufficio S.p.A. and others v Argentine Republic, an ICSID tribunal held that it had general jurisdiction over a multi-party claim commenced by 90 distinct Italian nationals against Argentina in respect of harm said to result from Argentina’s default and later partial restructuring of its sovereign debt. It might at first blush appear that the tribunal’s willingness to admit a 90-party claim is an affirmation of the favourable approach to so-called “mass claims” taken by its “sister tribunal” in Abaclat (and others) v The Argentine Republic.

If 2016 ended with more questions than answers as to how Brexit would take shape, 2017 began with at least a little more clarity.

Issues will arise upon a UK exit in relation to restructuring tools such as schemes of arrangement and in relation to insolvency processes; there are also special EU insolvency rules for financial institutions which will be affected. Finally there are elements of EU financial services laws which impinge on insolvencies and remove uncertainties, such as settlement finality and financial collateral.

2017 will see major changes to the UK legal landscape, with Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union expected to be triggered by the end of March 2017 to begin the Brexit process. The legal implications of Brexit will be hugely significant; preparing for their impact will be a substantial challenge across every industry sector. Our Preview of 2017 outlines these implications, as well as identifying other trends and issues we expect to be on the legal agenda this year.

For more information, please contact the relevant Herbert Smith Freehills partner referred to in the contact list or Simone Pearlman, head of legal knowledge on +44 (0) 20 7466 2021 or email simone. [email protected] This is a guide to key legal developments in the coming months and years ahead (UK perspective).

The German Federal Supreme Court (Bundesgerichtshof) recently held that creditors cannot bring claims against the Hellenic Republic before the German courts in the context of Greece's debt restructuring in 2012 , finding that Greece enjoys immunity from jurisdiction before the German courts (decision of 8 March 2016; docket number VI ZR 516/14).

Background and facts

On August 31, 2015, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled in favour of Argentina’s Central Bank in one of the many proceedings initiated by Argentina’s unpaid bondholders.[1] The decision in EM Ltd. and NML Capital Ltd v. Banco Central De La Republica Argentina[2] reinforces the statutory presumption in favour of States’ instrumentalities sovereign immunity, and sets a very high threshold to rebut it.