Our guide sets out how different jurisdictions are changing their Insolvency Laws to help alleviate additional pressures placed on businesses as a consequence of cash flow pressures caused by COVID-19.
We have updated our guide to include further changes to insolvency laws in Italy and Japan.
Click here
We have updated our European & Middle Eastern Government Financial Support guide, which sets out what financial support businesses in different jurisdictions could access to help manage financial distress caused by Covid-19. We have updated this with new details for:
To access the updated guide – click here
This week the House of Lords debated tabled amendments to the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Bill and the provisions will be examined by the Lords again next week. There was plenty of debate about whether the proposed new processes protect the interests of third parties such as employees, banks and pension creditors but largely, the amendments being taken forward focus on the position of lenders and the potential consequences of bank debt being accelerated. We will be posting a blog outlining any key changes to the legislation when the debates conclude, but in the meantime please click here to access our quick guides giving an overview of the proposed new moratorium, restructuring plan and ipso facto regime.
Our guide sets out how different jurisdictions are changing their Insolvency Laws to help alleviate additional pressures placed on businesses as a consequence of cash flow pressures caused by COVID-19.
We have updated our guide to include further changes to insolvency laws in the UK, Poland and Italy.
We have updated our European & Middle Eastern Government Financial Support guide, which sets out what financial support businesses in different jurisdictions could access to help manage financial distress caused by Covid-19. We have updated this with new details for the Czech Republic, France, Italy, Germany, UK and EU.
To access the updated guide – click here.
The UK Government has issued new guidance on changes to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) from 1 July 2020. This should allow employers to plan their strategy in relation to staff for the coming months with a little more certainty.
Under these new arrangements, employers will be able to bring furloughed staff back to work on a part-time basis, but continue to make a claim under the CJRS for any normal hours not worked. They will also be required to start contributing to their employees’ wage and other costs from August.
Our employment colleagues have produced an interactive Next Steps Roadmap setting out the key employment law milestones in relation not only to the CJRS, but also the other main issues that employers will need to consider over the coming months as they re-open. To read more on this and to access the road map click here.
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are often asked what clients should do if a business counterparty (such as a vendor, customer or other contract counterparty) is suffering distresses and may be contemplating, or be at risk of, falling into external administration. It is impossible to anticipate every potential scenario, but our note suggests several general do’s and dont’s to consider.
The UK Government have announced the implementation of the Trade Credit Reinsurance Scheme (TCRS), which will provide guarantees of up to £10 billion to Trade Credit Insurers in respect of business-to-business transactions.
Trade Credit Insurance in the UK underwrites an estimated £350 billion of trading for more than 630,000 businesses each year. It insures suppliers against their customers defaulting on payment, ensuring businesses have confidence to trade without fear of lost income and wasted cost.
The effect of COVID-19, and the Government’s response to COVID-19, has led to market concerns that trade counterparties may struggle to satisfy outstanding trade debts and/or default on future trade debts. This has caused a real risk to UK businesses that insurers may withdraw trade credit insurance or increase insurance premiums to unaffordable levels. Continue Reading
Our insurance colleagues recently discussed a bankruptcy-related insurance case in the Squire Patton Boggs Insurance & Reinsurance Disputes Blog. The post analyzes the bankruptcy exception to the insured vs. insured exclusion found in most directors & officers liability insurance policies. That exclusion precludes insurance coverage when one insured (e.g., the debtor) sues another insured (e.g., an officer of the debtor). In this case, a New York appellate court held that a creditor’s trust formed to pursue claims post-confirmation against former directors and officers of the debtor was a comparable authority to a bankruptcy trustee and, therefore, came within the bankruptcy exception to the exclusion, which meant that the former directors and officers were covered by the debtor’s D&O policy against the post-confirmation lawsuit by the creditor’s trust. You can read the post here.
As set out in the first blog in this series, the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Bill (the “Bill”) introduces a new debtor-in-possession moratorium to give companies breathing space in order to try to rescue the company as a going concern.
The first blog outlined how the moratorium will work and the second blog focused on the key provisions that secured lenders should be aware of. This blog will outline issues for other stakeholders – the insolvency practitioner (“IP”) monitoring the moratorium (the “monitor”), creditors, suppliers, the debtor company and its directors. Continue Reading
