Top Stories - Bankruptcy & restructuring

By Lisa S. Corne and David P. Preger of Dickinson Wright LLP
18th April 2013 10:29Introduction   Debtor-in-possession (“DIP”) financing is an important tool used by insolvent companies undergoing reorganization proceedings under Canada’s Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (“CCAA”), or Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (“BIA”). DIP loans permit insolvent debtors to ob ... read more

By James Bowden
8th April 2013 09:22The legal framework governing insolvency in the UAE is primarily set out in UAE Federal Law No. 18 of 1993 promulgating the Code of Commercial Practice (the “Commercial Code”), and it has remained essentially unchanged since then.  The insolvency regime set out in the Commercial Code is still largely untested in practice, because debtors an ... read more

By Paul P Subramaniam
4th April 2013 09:57Introduction   The Malaysian financial sector is poise to experience major changes in the way financial institutions operate when the Islamic Financial Services Act 2013 (“IFSA”) and the Financial Services Act 2013 (“FSA&rdqu ... read more

By Mathew Newman
2nd April 2013 09:05Since 2008, Guernsey has had an up to date and flexible statutory restructuring regime which is capable of dealing with all different types of modern day reorganisation and turnaround strategies.  Both regimes are court-led and in our experience the Royal Court of Guernsey is more than capable of understanding the often complex arrangements that are proposed to be put in place and giving ... read more

By Jules Cohen
27th March 2013 09:59When banks and other lenders make a loan, they often obtain collateral from the borrower to secure repayment of the loan. The collateral may be a mortgage or deed of trust on real estate or a security interest in business assets such as accounts receivable, inventory and equipment. This makes the lender a secured creditor. If the borrower does not repay the loan, the secured creditor may sell the ... read more

By Íñigo Rubio & Ignacio Buil Aldana
25th March 2013 09:03General overview of Spanish case law with respect to Event of Default/Early Termination clauses   In the current economic context, many Spanish borrowers and lenders are closely looking at the events of default set forth in their financing agreements to carefully assess whether they are in the verge of entering into any of those event ... read more

By Olexiy Soshenko & Andrii Grebonkin
18th March 2013 09:17On 19 January 2013amendments to the insolvency laws in Ukraine became effective.  While the general framework for insolvency proceedings remained the same, a number of significant amendments were made.  Below we set out a summary of the most important changes.  We note that the President of Ukraine requested that the government revise certain sections of the amended law ... read more

By Norman L. Pernick, David R. Hurst &Therese Scheuer
12th March 2013 09:00In a chapter 11 case, a senior claimholder may seek to share recovered property with junior stakeholders, to promote a speedy and cooperative reorganization.  This “gifting” may be allowed under certain circumstances.  Official Unsecured Creditors Comm. v. Stern (In re SPM Mfg. Corp.), 984 F.2d 1305 (1st Cir. 1993) (holding that, in chapte ... read more

By Peter C. Blain
7th March 2013 09:30Venue of Chapter 11 cases is governed by section 1408 of title 28, which provides in part that a case under the Bankruptcy Code (11 U.S.C. § 101 et seq) may be commenced in the district in which the person's "domicile, residence, principal place of business… or principal asset" are located, or "in which there is a pending ... read more

By Tim B. Schreuders
9th January 2013 10:52If an enterprise grows both functionally and geographically, there is often a need for operational, tax, legal and practical reasons to set up a group structure consisting of different legal entities.  If the expansion of the business activities includes conducting the business abroad, foreign companies will become part of the group.  As much as there is a need to create a group ... read more

By Charles Russam
27th November 2012 09:48The UK may be coming out of recession, but many businesses still remain cautious when taking on new projects or looking at expansion.  As a result, many are reluctant to hire full time permanent staff at a senior level and more companies are turning to Interim Managers to bring in new skills and expertise, on a temporary basis.  Charles Russam, Chairman of Russam GMS, a ... read more

By Neil Lupton
8th November 2012 10:21When examining the key issues and trends dominating cross-border insolvency work, the Cayman Islands is as good as any place to start.  Virtually every case we come across in the Cayman Islands has at least one cross border element (if not several) which means that the international aspect is interwoven into our everyday work, in dealing with courts, office holders and legal counsel in va ... read more

By David Stark
14th September 2012 09:43Expectations are high that the Middle East will soon enter a second phase of significant restructurings across both corporate and government related entities.  The main driver behind this expectation of a ‘second round’ of restructurings is the significant levels of short to medium term loan maturities in the region (US$100 billion by the end of 2015) coupled with a de ... read more

By Haider Ali
18th July 2012 10:49 Despite the vast success many Arab economies had prior to the economic recession that began in 2008, the concept of solvency is relatively new to the region as the law becomes rewritten into constitutions such as states from the United Arab Emirates to Oman.  It is definitely going to have ramifications, both good and bad for the United Arab Emirates, as we bear witness to a n ... read more

By Íñigo Rubio, Ignacio Buil Aldana & Alicia Galindo
29th May 2012 09:45The latest amendment to the Spanish Insolvency Act (Ley 22/2003, de 9 de julio, Concursal) passed by the Spanish parliament on October 10, 2011 (Ley 38/2011, de 10 de octubre, de reforma de la Ley 22/2003, de 9 de julio, Concursal), provides new options in insolvency proceedings for debtors, creditors and professional investors.   ... read more

By Allen Smith
20th April 2012 09:34The condition of the economy has deteriorated over the last few years to such a point that financial pressure forced people to depend largely on credit as means of meeting expenses.  The result of heavy borrowing coupled with hardening credit conditions has led to the creation of an exceedingly large public debt load.  The components of this huge debt pool includes a var ... read more

By Pall Eiriksson & Steinunn Holm Gudbjartsdottir
3rd April 2012 11:52 Icelandic law has two distinct insolvency procedures The first, composition, is primarily aimed at achieving a rescue of the business.  Whilst Icelandic insolvency law is closely modelled on the Danish system, readers who are familiar with company voluntary arrangements or schemes of arrangement in the UK will also recog ... read more

By Ardjana Shehi
2nd April 2012 11:15Albanian Bankruptcy Law (No.8901 of 23 May 2002), as amended by Law No.9919 of 19 May 2008 and Law No.10137 of 11 May 2009, which is an evident adaptation of German legislation, aims to establish non-discriminatory and mandatory rules for the repayment of obligations by debtors in a bankruptcy procedure and to ensure an adequate, reliable and effective mechanism for the reorganization or ... read more

By Dezan Shira & Associates
27th March 2012 10:55 China will resort to “market-oriented” measures to tackle its local debt issues, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said at a press conference last Wednesday after the closing of the Fifth Session of the Eleventh National People’s Congress. Wen’s remarks have signaled that China may allow more private investors ... read more

By Rafael X. Zahralddin-Aravena & Shelley A. Kinsella
26th March 2012 10:49Delaware continues to be a venue of choice for parties seeking a consistent and sophisticated jurisdiction to file an insolvency proceeding, whether the case is a large bankruptcy or a midmarket bankruptcy.  Companies can file in the Delaware courts because they can file bankruptcy in any jurisdiction that one of its affiliates is incorporated or where it has a principal place of ... read more

By Thomas S. Heather
23rd March 2012 11:35 The restructuring and insolvency activity in Mexico during the past few years has been primarily driven by the aftermath of the credit crisis originated in the United States in late 2008.  The Mexican economy was rapidly and severely affected as a result, among other factors, of an important decline in exports, as over 75% of Mexican ... read more

By Inigo Rubio & Ignacio Buil Aldana
19th March 2012 09:52Subordination agreements are very common in financing transactions.  They are generally used by different classes of lenders to establish the priority of repayment rights against the borrowers and their assets, enabling certain lenders to give priority to their debts over the borrowers’ debts with other creditors and to reduce their loss if a borrower defaults. ... read more

By Peter C. Blain
15th March 2012 10:54 On June 28, 2011, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals decided In re River Road Hotel Partners, LLC v. Amalgamated Bank, 651 F. 3d 642 (7th Cir. 2011).  The Court addressed Section 1129 (b)(2)(A) of the United States Bankruptcy Code in connection with a Plan of Reorganization to sell substantially all of the Debtor's assets.& ... read more

By Mark Ellenberg, Doug Mintz & Kathryn Borgeson
14th March 2012 10:29The battle over the enforceability of priority flip clauses in CDO indentures has entered a new phase.  On February 8, 2012, a group of investors led by Belmont Park Investments Pty Ltd. filed an adversary proceeding against Lehman Brothers Special Financing Inc. and BNY Mellon Corporate Trustee Services Ltd. in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.& ... read more

By Olexiy Soshenko & Andrii Grebonkin
13th March 2012 10:23In January 2012 amendments were made to the insolvency laws in Ukraine.  While the general framework for insolvency proceedings will remain the same, a number of significant amendments have been made. Below we set out a summary of the most important changes which the restated insolvency law introduces to the insolvency process.  The amendments introduced will become effe ... read more

By Frances Coulson
9th March 2012 10:26The struggling economy and the subsequent impact on businesses in the UK has meant that the work of insolvency practitioners has remained in the spotlight.  In 2012, this is it set to continue, with high profile cases such as La Senza, Blacks and Peacocks already having caught the attention of the press. As the insolvency trade body, representing 97% of insolv ... read more

By Hon. Melanie L. Cyganowski (Ret.), Daniel F. Fiorillo & Lloyd M. Green
8th March 2012 11:28The role of the outside legal expert has evolved well beyond serving as an adjunct to court sponsored alternative dispute resolution or jury selection.  Currently, expert counsel serves as an extra pair of eyes and as a valued resource in the prosecution or defense of litigation.  Although not typically part of a trial team, an outside legal expert may provide added heft ... read more

By John K. Lyons and Frances Kao
2nd March 2012 11:51Reverse Mergers Boom and Bust The past two years have seen the boom and bust of so-called “Chinese reverse merger” transactions.  In a typical reverse merger transaction, a company operating in the People's Republic of China merges into a defunct (or nearly defunct) compan ... read more

By Dezan Shira & Associates
19th December 2011 10:59As the Global Financial Crisis rumbles on, with certain reduced growth rates on the horizon for Europe and the United States, multinationals are looking elsewhere to achieve their business goals. Asia, a region riddled with wars and ineffective economic policies for much of the past century, has finally stepped into the front line of global trade and com ... read more

By William F. O’Grady
28th June 2011 11:58Personal Insolvency - the current position: Personal Insolvency in this jurisdiction is currently governed by the 1988 Bankruptcy Act.  On the 24th of June, 2011 the Government introduced the Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2011 which includes amongst its provision ... read more

By Edmund Rahming
6th June 2011 22:52Introduction The Caribbean is a region comprising over 7,000 islands and cays and consisting of a land area of almost 93,000 square miles.  The region is made up of 30 jurisdictions including sovereign states, overseas territories and dependencies.  Many of the jurisdictions are former or ... read more