On 16 September 2021, ordinance 2021-1193 implemented the European Directive on preventive restructuring frameworks into French law. The Ordinance applies to proceedings opened from 1 October 2021.

Key features

The German court has published LG München I v. 13.07.2021 - 6 O 17571/20 – the first published ruling on COVInsAG. We unpack the key takeaways from the decision below.

Background

To mitigate the economic effects of the pandemic, the German government passed the COVID-19 Insolvency Suspension Act (COVInsAG) to temporarily suspend the obligation on directors to file for insolvency where the debtor's insolvency was due to the pandemic. The COVInsAG (Section 2(1) Nos.2 and 4) also suspends large parts of the rules on insolvency avoidance.

The Hong Kong government will introduce a long-awaited statutory corporate rescue procedure (CRP) in 2021, bringing the regime more in line with international practice in jurisdictions such as the UK and the USA.

The current lack of a CRP in Hong Kong means that there are limited options available to distressed companies and the lack of a moratorium on creditor enforcement jeopardises legitimate restructuring efforts. The Companies (Corporate Rescue) Bill is timely given the difficulties brought by the current economic downturn, itself exacerbated by the impact of COVID-19.

We summarise the background and outcomes of Case C-73/20 – Oeltrans, an important ruling for liquidators faced with the avoidance of a third party payment and a conflict of laws.

The facts

Sky Building Ltd (the Company) owned a development property (the Property) and granted leases for 145 flats. Leasehold contracts were exchanged in relation to 143 flats, giving rise to purchasers' liens. Some of the purchasers' liens (securing liabilities of approximately £6.5 million) were protected by registration of notices against the title to the Property, conferring a priority interest in the event of a sale of the Property.

In addition to new legislation mentioned elsewhere in this round-up (see links to other sections), commercial and tech businesses and in-house counsel should note:

The Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act

On 30 July 2020, the UK Insolvency Service published its quarterly insolvency statistics. Notably:

According to German law, managing directors of limited liability companies are personally liable for payments made despite insolvency. Directors may even be liable when third parties make payments to the insolvent company's current account that has a negative balance because such payment will constitute a payment by the insolvent company to the bank

Die Hotelindustrie gehört zu den Branchen, die von der Corona-Krise am schwersten getroffen werden. Mitunter geht es um das schlichte Überleben der betroffenen Unternehmen. Wir möchten Ihnen in einem interdisziplinären Webinar einige der drängendsten Fragen beantworten, die Ihnen helfen sollen, durch diese herausfordernde Zeit durchzukommen.

Folgende Themen stehen im Fokus des Webinars:

On 14 November 2018, the Court of Justice of the European Union issued a judgment on jurisdiction for avoidance actions under the previous Insolvency Regulation.

In its decision of 12 February 2009, the Court had already established that the courts of the Member State with jurisdiction to open insolvency proceedings are competent for all the actions directly related to the insolvency.