Introduction

The proud sporting nations of Ireland and England have for some time traded blows and bragging rights within the Six Nations Tournament as the two pre-eminent and consistent "Home Nations" rugby teams. While the two sides share some similarities in the rebuilding process following the World Cup in France 2023, ahead of this Saturday's clash, few can argue with Ireland's emphatic start to this year's tournament. England, however, can never be written off at Twickenham, so a potential blockbuster awaits!

On 27 February 2024, the High Court sanctioned a restructuring plan (the Plan) proposed by CB&I UK Limited (CB&I), part of the global McDermott construction and engineering group (the Group). This is the first English restructuring plan to be approved after the Court of Appeal judgment in Adler (see our Alert) and follows the guidance in that case.

Background

McDermott restructuring plan approved amidst parallel settlement negotiations

The English court has given the green light to the restructuring plan (the Plan) proposed by CB&I UK Limited, part of the McDermott Group, marking the first such approval since the Court of Appeal’s pivotal decision in the Adler case (see our previous update).

The Courts, practitioners and leading textbooks have always assumed that the Limitation Act 1980 (the Limitation Act) does not apply to claims for relief from unfair prejudice under section 994 of the Companies Act 2006 (the Companies Act).

In THG Plc v Zedra Trust Company (Jersey) Limited [2024] EWCA Civ 158, the Court of Appeal examined the basis for that assumption and unanimously decided that:

SUMMARY

The UK government recently introduced legislation implementing changes to the special administration regime for regulated water companies (“WISAR”). The changes are designed to modernise the WISAR and to better align it with the special administration regimes for other systemically important sectors like energy supplies and investment banks.

DLA Piper Hong Kong Financial Services Dispute Quarterly Law Report – February 2024 2 DLA PIPER HONG KONG FINANCIAL SERVICES DISPUTE QUARTERLY LAW REPORT – FEBRUARY 2024 Foreword Welcome to the second edition of the DLA Piper Hong Kong Financial Services Dispute Quarterly Law Report.

In recent months, there have been a few changes regarding MVLs, which we set out below as a helpful reminder to practitioners.

Statements of Solvency

Copies Only

S89 of the Insolvency Act 1986 sets out the requirements for a statutory declaration of solvency where it is proposed that a company is wound up on a solvent basis.

Following our previous alert, in which we highlighted an issue with entries relating to registered security maintained at Companies House being incorrectly updated to indicate that they had in fact been discharged without the aware

China City Construction Holding Group Co Ltd -v- Patrick Cowley and Lui Yee Man, Joint and Several Liquidators of China City Construction (International) Co Ltd [2024] HKCFI 219

The Hong Kong Court of First Instance (the Court) has examined the issue of the scope of information required to be disclosed by liquidators to creditors and whether the Court should exercise its discretion to order discovery if it is just and beneficial to do so.

The Court of Appeal has handed down judgment in the case of Humphrey v Bennett, providing some useful guidance on the nature and scope of a director’s duty to avoid conflicts of interest. The case was an appeal against summary judgment of the High Court following a derivative claim brought on behalf of a company by minority shareholders. The case will be of particular interest to directors of smaller companies whose management structures very often operate on a more informal footing.