Alongside the permanent reforms to English insolvency law introduced by the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020, the government introduced a temporary suspension of certain provisions of the Insolvency Act 1986 (the IA) to address the economic turbulence caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
After the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Bill (CIGB) was published on 20 May 2020, it raced through the House of Commons and House of Lords and, on 26 June 2020 (in under 6 weeks) came into force as the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 (CIGA), with certain of the temporary measures taking effect from 1 March 2020.
How was the CIGB received?
The French Government made temporary changes to the insolvency law in order to protect companies, employees and managers from the cash flow consequences of the state of health emergency (Government order dated 27 March 2020 (No. 2020-341)).
When a debtor is in cessation of payments, it generally has 45 days from the 'cash-flow insolvency' to file for insolvency. The Government decided that the cash-flow insolvency of an enterprise shall be assessed based on its status on 12 March 2020 or the time of the expiry of the state of health emergency increased by three months.
In a recent decision, the German courts clarified the circumstances under which repayments on a loan not granted by a direct shareholder of an insolvent borrower could qualify as repayments on a shareholder loan, and therefore avoid being contested in insolvency proceedings.
Background
In 2015 oordeelde de Hoge Raad dat een curator met succes in verzet kan komen tegen een faillissement dat op eigen aangifte van de rechtspersoon is uitgesproken. Er was in dit geval sprake van een (bijna) lege boedel en er bestond geen verwachting dat er gedurende het faillissement nog activa konden worden gegenereerd. De curator zou de afwikkelingskosten van het faillissement daardoor niet vergoed krijgen uit de boedel, maar zou deze kosten zelf moeten dragen.
Key Points
A binding contract by exchange of email did not arise where parties were simply exploring a potential deal.
Sale by auction is often appropriate where an asset is difficult to value.
Where no differential treatment of creditors, unfair harm requires that a decision does not withstand logical analysis.
The Facts
In the German market, target companies are generally acquired out of insolvency through an asset sale. While this still holds true for the lion’s share of transactions, an increasing number of target companies are being acquired through a share sale.
Update unseres Leitfadens zum Umgang mit Materialkostenerhöhungen und Lieferverzögerungen
Die aktuelle Entwicklung bei Baukosten und Materiallieferungen
Hong Kong courts recently recognised reorganisation proceedings in Mainland China for the first time in Re HNA Group Co Limited [2021] HKCFI 2897, further enhancing the cooperation between Mainland China and Hong Kong in cross-border insolvency matters.
The facts
Etihad, die staatliche Fluggesellschaft der Vereinigten Arabischen Emirate, war Hauptaktionärin der Air Berlin. Etihad stellte Air Berlin seit 2011 Liquidität zur Verfügung. Als sie die finanzielle Unterstützung im August 2017 beendete, stellte Air Berlin wenige Tage später beim Amtsgericht Charlottenburg einen Antrag auf Eröffnung des Insolvenzverfahrens. Die rechtlichen Folgen dieser Insolvenz sind immer noch nicht ganz abgearbeitet. Ein wirtschaftlich bedeutender Aspekt beschäftigte zuletzt die deutschen und englischen Gerichte.
Sachverhalt