A ruling by the Supreme Court in Spain says Spanish banks that held deposits for property that was never built are to be held to account. Around 100,000 people in the UK are thought to have paid big sums towards such properties in Spain but these were lost when several developers went bust in the wake … Continue Reading
On 23 June 2016 a 52% majority of the British people voted in favour of leaving the European Union. It seems likely that the immediate effect of the Brexit vote will be a degree of turmoil in the financial markets, involving, for instance a devaluation of Sterling against the Euro and of the Euro against the USD. This … Continue Reading
There has been a significant increase in insolvencies in the construction, real estate, retail and wholesale sectors of the Russian economy, according to the statistics in the Competition Development Bulletin “Concentration on the Russian Markets: Trends in the Period of Recession” published in December 2015 by the Analytical Centre of the Government of the Russian Federation. … Continue Reading
Delaware has long established itself as a welcoming jurisdiction for various legal purposes. It began as a center for company incorporation by providing a corporate law framework that was flexible and continuously updated for new developments. More recently, Delaware has applied those same principles (plus an expansive view of venue) to become a center for … Continue Reading
On April 25, 2016, H.R.H. Deputy Crown Prince Mohamed Bin Salman announced the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia “Vision 2030”, a plan to radically transform the Kingdom’s economy in, what many commentators saw as, a response to budgetary pressures arising from the slump in crude oil prices. Vision 2030 sets out a comprehensive road map to … Continue Reading
During contract negotiations parties usually agree what law and which courts will determine any disputes arising from that contract. This brings certainty for the parties. However that certainty can vanish if one party is a foreign registered company and becomes insolvent – the other party may suddenly become exposed to unexpected foreign insolvency law. At … Continue Reading
A View from Brussels As the 23 June date for the British referendum about its future in the European Union (EU) comes closer, the EU political leadership in Brussels remains uncertain how best to support the ‘Bremain’ forces in order to avoid the embarrassing and damaging departure of one of its largest and strongest members. None … Continue Reading
The latest iteration of the Sun Capital litigation has confirmed once again what many restructuring professionals have known for a long time – that pension liabilities have a nasty habit of kicking investors where it hurts, often when least expected. Our recent blog explains the decision and provides some insights on the case. One of … Continue Reading
The statistics show that over 10,000 English limited companies operate in Germany. The company is registered in the Companies Register in the UK, but has a branch active in Germany, which is registered in German Company registries. On 10 December 2015 the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) decided on the question whether … Continue Reading
What is this all about? India is proposing a new insolvency and bankruptcy code. It’s all part of the “Make In India” campaign by Narendra Modi’s government who are trying to attract businesses to India. Current law It does not appear that there has been a single separate law for bankruptcy legislation in the country’s … Continue Reading
The French government has made the assessment that certain small commercial courts were regularly finding themselves confronted with cases of great complexity, only because the company in difficulty had its head office in the jurisdiction of these courts. It therefore announced the establishment of specialised commercial courts (TCS) which will process the most complex insolvency proceedings. … Continue Reading
In case you have just returned from Outer Space- the UK Government has announced that it is holding a referendum on 23 June 2016 on the question: “Should the United Kingdom remain a member of the EU or leave the EU?” In the meantime, whilst the UK decides whether to Brexit or not, the EU … Continue Reading
The Federal Court of Australia has approved a settlement, effectively resolving one of the most complex corporate insolvencies in Australian history. On 18 December 2015 the Federal Court of Australia approved a settlement relating to inter-company loans and disputed assets between the liquidators of Lehman Brothers Australia Ltd (LBA) and American parent company Lehman Brothers … Continue Reading
2015 saw the global oil and gas market in turmoil and 2016 looks set to continue the trend. 16 January 2016 saw the lifting of sanctions against Iran, and critically signified its re-entry as a major OPEC player to the already saturated global oil and gas market. With the world’s fourth-biggest oil reserves, an immediate … Continue Reading
Hypo Group Alpe Adria AG, an Austrian banking group, was nationalized by the Austrian government in 2009 in order to avert a bank collapse. The Austrian province of Carinthia owned the bank until 2007 and the guarantees given by Carinthia for the bank’s debt still amount to several times its annual budget, which has made the winding-down … Continue Reading
China is one of the largest manufacturers and consumers of iron and steel products. The steel industry in China has developed over several decades into the biggest in the world. China accounts for nearly 50% of world steel production. It has been driven by rapid modernization of its economy, construction, infrastructure and manufacturing industries. The Chinese steel … Continue Reading
Complex multi-jurisdictional insolvencies are an inevitable consequence of the increasingly global nature of big business. The collapse of the likes of Barings, Enron and most recently Lehmans (the latter involving insolvency proceedings in some 16 jurisdictions) have highlighted the growing need for legislative action to promote cross-border co-operation and protect the interests of international creditors. … Continue Reading
When Hypo Alpe-Adria Bank International AG (Hypo), the Austrian bank, failed in 2014, the Austrian Government paved the way for the establishment of Heta Asset Resolution AG (Heta) as a wind-down vehicle to assume and manage large parts of its assets. The idea was to wind down Hypo by 2020. The Austrian “Act on the Recovery and … Continue Reading
An important decision was issued last week by the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware in favor of Squire Patton Boggs’ client CCA Bahamas, Inc. (“CCA Bahamas”). The decision provides guidance on when U.S. bankruptcy courts should dismiss cases filed by foreign debtors. See In re Northshore Mainland Services, Inc., et al., Case No. … Continue Reading
The English High Court has again considered whether by itself the choice of English law and court jurisdiction in legal documentation establishes a “sufficient connection” with England to enable a foreign company to avail itself of an English scheme of arrangement. Background It has become increasingly popular for foreign companies to utilise an English scheme … Continue Reading
In March 2014 the European Commission issued a Recommendation considering a new approach to business failure and insolvency, targeting efficient restructuring of viable enterprises in financial difficulty and a second chance for honest entrepreneurs. The objective of this Recommendation was: “to encourage Member States to put in place a framework that enables the efficient restructuring … Continue Reading
Latest Lehman judgment reassures end users on Close-out Rights It is undeniable that the legal complexities, and unprecedented facts, of the long running Lehman Brothers saga have generated a wealth of legal principal, most notably through the Waterfall series of litigation. Against the background of administration, this trilogy (creatively named Waterfall I Application, Waterfall I Appeal and the upcoming Waterfall … Continue Reading
A scandal in the world of letters and old manuscripts would not have gone unnoticed and the French case of Aristophil has lead to extensive press coverage; a massive fraud is suspected with thousands of works and hundreds of millions of euros at stake. The concept was appealing: manuscripts full of history, a promise of elevated re-sale … Continue Reading
On Monday 13 July 2015 the Eurozone Finance Ministers stated that they have entered into an understanding for further funds to be made available to Greece under the rules of ESM (combined with a more or less state controlled Greek trust fund for assets to be privatized) to avoid structuring a temporary Grexit. Such understanding is conditional upon the Greek parliament … Continue Reading
