North Africa/Middle East

Towards the end of last year, it was announced that the UAE’s long anticipated reform of the insolvency reform bill was reaching its final stages prior to implementation, Emirates 24/7 reported. The legal framework was drawn up following the establishment of the Dubai World Tribunal that resulted from its inability to pay its creditors in November 2009. The case cast spotlight on the UAE, which until today does not have an officially passed insolvency bill that helps local businesses as well as international investors.

Dubai government-owned property developer Limitless has secured the agreement of 85 percent of its creditors for a three-month extension to a debt repayment due at the end of 2014 and for a proposed restructuring plan, its chairman said, Reuters reported. Limitless is looking to obtain the support of 100 percent of creditors to the extension and restructuring plan for its $1.2 billion debt, Ali Rashid Lootah told reporters at a news conference on Wednesday.

State-owned conglomerate Dubai World edged closer to a second major restructuring in four years on Monday after announcing it had reached agreement with a "substantial majority" of creditors to back its $14.6 billion debt deal, Reuters reported. However, despite having enough backing to effectively prevent challenges to its new deal, a relatively untested court process to impose it will mean formal completion is still months away.

Limitless, a Dubai government-related real estate developer, has asked for a three-month extension to talks with creditors after failing to secure a new restructuring deal on its $1.2 billion debt pile, four banking sources told Reuters on Thursday. The company, which has already restructured the debt once before after falling victim to the emirate's property crash at the end of the last decade, has been in talks with creditors for nearly a year on a new deal. It had hoped to secure new terms before a $400 million payment came due on Dec. 31 but no deal was reached.

Kuwait is finalising what will be the Gulf's first insolvency legislation designed to help failed businesses recover from financial difficulties rather than be shutdown, leaving creditors out of pocket, ArabianBusiness.com reported. The draft law would allow companies at the brink of financial collapse to seek court protection and business rehabilitation, instead of liquidation, DLA Piper regional managing partner Abdul Aziz Al Yaqout, who has been working on the legislation, told Arabian Business.

Investment Dar, the Kuwaiti firm best-known for its stake in luxury carmaker Aston Martin, hopes to complete a second debt-for-assets deal with creditors by the end of March, it said in a bourse statement on Tuesday, Reuters reported. The sharia-compliant firm said on Nov. 18 it had received the backing of a "significant majority of investors" for the proposal, which would see creditors voluntarily exchanging debt for ownership of a portfolio of assets.

A Dubai-based venture half-owned by commodities trader Vitol SA has hired more than 10 ex-OW Bunker employees in China, showing how swiftly merchants are filling the vacuum left by the former top marine fuel supplier, China-based traders said on Friday, Reuters reported. The hiring spree by Cockett Marine Oil follows a similar move by Swiss trader, Mercuria, who has scooped up close to 20 ex-OW Bunker employees in South Korea and Japan.

Dubai World, the government-owned conglomerate, is set to use provisions of the emirate’s special bankruptcy law to ensure an orderly process in the restructuring of US$15 billion of debts, The National reported. A meeting of international bank creditors in London this week gave majority approval to the new refinancing scheme, which has been under discussion since April. Voters representing two-thirds of the total value of loans supported the plan.

Israeli regulators proposed that companies that fail to make bond payments should go into insolvency proceedings after just a month and a half to improve transparency and discourage firms from overextending in the first place, Reuters reported. A panel, led by Finance Ministry Director-General Yael Andorn, made the recommendations to encourage the growth of Israel's debt market after a number of high-profile debt settlements angered the public and harmed investor confidence.

Dubai's Limitless will pledge its future revenues to service debt repayments as it attempts a second restructuring of a $1.2 billion Islamic loan which banking sources said should be completed ahead of a December deadline, Reuters reported. The state-owned property firm is on track to restructure the debt by the end of the year, when a payment worth a third of the total comes due, two sources familiar with the matter said on Sunday.