This is the story of the first Indian insolvency proceeding to be granted recognition by the Singapore Court under the UNCITRAL Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency (“Model Law”). This recognition, besides facilitating the challenging cross-border asset recovery, has also opened the doors for deeper insolvency cooperation between India and Singapore.
Given the increased intertwining of national economies, cross-border insolvency presents salient legal and financial difficulty. Upon the existence of an insolvent debtor in more than one country, the necessity to deal with assets and/or creditors creates very complicated jurisdictional problems and other legal issues. Most of the time, a company will operate in several jurisdictions and hence face very complicated transnational insolvency scenarios.
Introduction
Debt relief is a critical topic, especially for individuals and companies facing financial hardships that may affect their stability. Recently, the UAE has implemented clear legislative frameworks, as have some international laws, to help facilitate debt relief or restructuring. This article covers the legal procedures available, focusing on UAE legislation and international regulations, along with real-world cases and examples.
First: Debt Discharge Under UAE Law
مقدمة
إسقاط الديون هو موضوع ذو أهمية كبيرة، خاصة للأفراد والشركات الذين يواجهون صعوبات مالية قد تؤثر على استقرارهم. وقد أتاحت قوانين دولة الإمارات العربية المتحدة الحديثة، وكذلك بعض القوانين الدولية، إطارًا قانونيًا واضحًا لإسقاط الديون أو تخفيفها. تتناول هذه المقالة الإجراءات القانونية المتاحة، مع التركيز على التشريعات الإماراتية والتشريعات الدولية، إضافة إلى عرض بعض الحالات القانونية والأمثلة العملية.
أولاً: إسقاط الديون وفقًا لقانون الإمارات العربية المتحدة
قانون الإفلاس في الإمارات (القانون الاتحادي رقم 9 لسنة 2016)
Chris Pearce, Blackwall Legal LLP
This is an extract from the 2025 edition of GRR's The Asia-Pacific Restructuring Review. The whole publication is available here.
This is an Insight article, written by a selected partner as part of GRR's co-published content. Read more on Insight
In summary
Established in 2015 as a trusted neutral forum to meet increasing demand for effective transnational dispute resolution, the Singapore International Commercial Court (the "SICC") is a division of the General Division of the High Court and part of the Supreme Court of Singapore. On January 18, 2024, the SICC handed down its first insolvency-related ruling.
TO BE OR NOT TO BE (SOLVENT) - A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF SINGAPORE, UK, US, AND AUSTRALIA ON RECOGNISING FOREIGN PROCEEDINGS UNDER THE UNCITRAL MODEL LAW PIERRE DZAKPASU, ANNE JESUDASON, FLORENCE LI The recent case of Ascentra Holdings, Inc v. SPGK Pte Ltd [2023] SGCA 32 (Ascentra) has drawn a line in the sand in the Singapore court's interpretation of the UNCITRAL Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency (UNCITRAL Model Law), as incorporated in the Third Schedule of the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act 2018 (IRDA) to create the Singapore Model Law.
Against the backdrop of recent judicial precedent, this article delves into the need for a group insolvency framework in India, and analyses the report published by the CBIRC in 2021.
Globalisation has led to a significant increase in the number of enterprises which comprise of several closely connected entities that may operate as a single economic unit. As a consequence, difficulties may arise when 1 or more entities in that single economic unit become insolvent as the inability of 1 entity to pay its debts may impact stakeholders in another entity within the group.
With the increase in global trade and business, often involving complex corporate structures in multiple jurisdictions, we expect to see a significant increase in cross-border insolvency and restructuring matters in coming years. This is especially the case with rapid advancements in technology and digital change driving “borderless” transactions and investments in every industry.