Evan C. Hollander

Partner

New York

echollander@orrick.com

Read full biography at www.orrick.com
Evan Hollander, Senior Partner in Orrick’s New York office, is a member of the firm’s Restructuring group.

Evan Hollander has over 25 years of experience representing debtors, secured creditors, holders of fulcrum securities, distressed asset acquirers, and independent directors in complex U.S. and cross-border restructuring matters. Mr. Hollander is equally comfortable in the courtroom as he is at the negotiating table and the boardroom, and has extensive experience crafting and implementing restructuring plans. He frequently writes on insolvency related topics and routinely appears on panels at industry conferences.

Posts by: Evan Hollander

CARES Act Update: Small Business Administration Releases Paycheck Protection Program Regulations

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On April 2, 2020, six days after the CARES Act was enacted, the Small Business Administration (“SBA”) released an interim final rule (the “Interim Final Rule”) implementing the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”). For an overview of the PPP sections of the CARES Act, see our previous alert, which is available here.

Read our discussion of the key provisions of the Interim Final Rule, along with a brief discussion of the revised Borrower Application Form and related guidance from the Treasury Department and the SBA, here. Significantly, the Interim Final Rule states that the SBA also intends to promptly issue additional guidance regarding the applicability of its affiliation rules to PPP loans.[1]

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act Becomes Law – With Major Enhancements

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By voice vote on March 27, the House of Representatives passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (the “Act”), a version of which the Senate passed on a 96-0 vote two days earlier. President Trump promptly signed the Act into law. The Act includes significant amendments to the Senate bill resulting from legislative negotiations that took place since we last analyzed it here. The final version of the Act increases funding for loans to small and large businesses, increases oversight on the Department of the Treasury’s loans and grants to businesses, and adds funding for struggling state, tribal and local governments, individuals and healthcare providers. We summarize key changes here.

Congress Has Passed Phase III of the Federal Coronavirus Relief Legislation: Here’s What You Need to Know about the Legislation’s COVID-19-related Small Business Administration Loan Resources

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The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act – the third phase of Congress’s response to COVID-19, which was enacted on March 27, 2020 – includes a Paycheck Protection Program. The proposed program would, among other things, expand the scope of the Small Business Administration’s available 7(a) loans during a “covered period” beginning on February 15, 2020 and ending on June 30, 2020. (The Small Business Administration (SBA) provides 7(a) loan guarantees for certain loans made by participating lending institutions to qualifying small businesses.) Certain key elements of the Paycheck Protection Program are described here, followed by a discussion of various other SBA loan resources. The final version of the bill reflects substantial changes from the version introduced into the Senate on March 19, 2020.

CARES Act Inches Closer, but Terms for Economic Relief Still Uncertain

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When we last wrote, we advised that the CARES Act’s provisions granting extraordinary power to the Secretary of the Treasury to determine those businesses’ eligible for financial relief without legislative oversight was likely to be a significant point of contention during legislative negotiations over approval of the Senate Bill. Our prediction proved correct, with passage of the Bill being delayed for several days through procedural measures. Recent reports have indicated that Secretary Mnuchin has agreed to strict legislative oversight over his authority to designate eligible businesses entitled to receive funding, which has increased in the aggregate from $150 billion to $500 billion in aid for corporations and municipalities. The agreement purportedly also includes hundreds of billions of dollars in funding for hospitals – a significant increase from the Bill’s initial allocation. Read our key takeaways here.

What You Need to Know About Proposed and Existing COVID-19-related Small Business Administration Loan Resources

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The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act – which was introduced into the Senate on March 19, 2020, as the third phase of Congress’s response to COVID-19 – includes a Small Business Interruption Loan program. The proposed program would, among other things, expand the scope of the Small Business Administration’s available 7(a) loan guarantees during a “covered period” beginning on March 1, 2020 and ending on December 31, 2020. (The Small Business Administration (SBA) provides 7(a) loan guarantees for certain loans made by participating lending institutions to qualifying small businesses.) Read our key takeaways here.

What You Need to Know About the Proposed Senate Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act

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The goal of the trillion-dollar Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) introduced yesterday in the Senate is the quick distribution of cash to individuals, small businesses and critical economic sectors such as the airline industry, providing financial assistance to students, expediting coronavirus testing and easing shortages of medical supplies and personnel. While the bill as drafted has met with resistance from Democratic leaders, we expect a version of this bill to be enacted soon. The CARES Act is 247 pages long and seeks to address many critical problems. We summarize below some key provisions here.

Second Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Chapter 15 Appeal by Purported Shareholder on Standing Grounds

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In a March 19, 2019 summary order, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal of a purported shareholder’s appeal challenging the chapter 15 recognition of a Cayman Islands restructuring of an offshore drilling contractor. See In re Ocean Rig UDW Inc., No. 18-1374, 2019 WL 1276205 (2d Cir. Mar. 19, 2019). The Court of Appeals affirmed the district court’s dismissal of that appeal for lack of appellate standing. An Orrick team handled the chapter 15 proceedings in the bankruptcy court, as well as the appellate proceedings in the district court and Court of Appeals.

Background

The appeal was brought by a self-described shareholder of debtor Ocean Rig UDW Inc. (“UDW”). The appellant sought review of an order issued by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Martin Glenn granting recognition of provisional liquidation and scheme of arrangement proceedings in the Cayman Islands of UDW and three of its subsidiaries as “foreign main proceedings” under section 1517 of the Bankruptcy Code. That recognition order gave rise to various forms of relief, including an automatic stay with respect to the Debtors and their property within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States.

In the ancillary proceedings in the bankruptcy court, the appellant had opposed the Debtors’ petition for recognition on numerous grounds, including on the basis that venue was improper in the Southern District of New York, that the Debtors failed to meet their burden of proving that their center of main interests (“COMI”) was in the Cayman Islands, that the Debtors improperly manipulated their COMI, and that granting recognition would violate the public policy objectives of chapter 15. The bankruptcy court overruled those objections and granted recognition and other related relief under sections 1520 and 1521 of the Bankruptcy Code. See In re Ocean Rig UDW Inc., 570 B.R. 687 (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. 2017).

Appellant timely noticed an appeal to the district court, but did not seek a stay of the recognition order. Thus, the Debtors moved forward with their restructuring via four interrelated schemes of arrangement under Cayman Islands law (the “Schemes”). The Schemes involved the exchange of more than $3.7 billion of existing financial indebtedness for $450 million in new secured debt, approximately $288 million in cash, and new equity in UDW. Under the Schemes, existing shareholders of UDW retained a nominal amount of equity in the reorganized UDW (0.02%), but this token amount was provided solely to facilitate UDW’s ability to maintain its NASDAQ listing and was not an indication of UDW’s solvency. In fact, the indicative value of the consideration distributed to the creditors under the Schemes was significantly less than the face amount of their claims.

Appellant did not object to the provisional liquidation proceedings or the Schemes, which were later sanctioned (i.e., approved) by the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands. Similarly, appellant did not object to a motion in the chapter 15 proceedings for entry of an order granting comity and giving full force and effect to the Schemes and Cayman court’s ruling in the United States, which the bankruptcy court subsequently granted. Promptly upon the bankruptcy court’s issuance of this “enforcement order,” the Debtors consummated the restructuring in accordance with the Schemes.

Thereafter, in the district court, before U.S. District Judge John G. Koeltl, the Debtors and their authorized foreign representative moved to dismiss the appeal, arguing that the appellant’s purported shareholder status was insufficient to give her appellate standing, and that in any event, her appeal had been rendered equitably moot by the consummation of the restructuring. The district court granted the motion on both alternative grounds. See In re Ocean Rig UDW Inc., 585 B.R. 31 (S.D.N.Y. 2018).

Appellant then sought review of the district court’s dismissal in the Second Circuit. While that appeal was pending, a third-party company (Transocean Ltd.) acquired UDW in a cash and stock transaction valued at approximately $2.7 billion.

The Second Circuit’s Ruling

The Second Circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal of the appeal for lack of standing. The Court of Appeals began its analysis by reiterating the settled legal standard for bankruptcy appellate standing: “To have standing to appeal from a bankruptcy court ruling in this Circuit, an appellant must be an ‘aggrieved person,’ a person directly and adversely affected pecuniarily by the challenged order of the bankruptcy court.” 2019 WL 1276205 at *1 (quoting In re Gucci, 126 F.3d 380, 388 (2d Cir. 1997)). “The stringency of our rule,” the Court explained, “is rooted in a concern that freely granting open‐ended appeals to those persons affected by bankruptcy court orders will sound the death knell of the orderly disposition of bankruptcy matters.” Id.

Applying that standard, the Second Circuit readily concluded that the appellant was not an “aggrieved person.” Although the appellant was subject to injunctions set forth in the bankruptcy court’s recognition order, she had not “pursued any action against UDW that has been stayed because of the injunctive relief, and her brief [did] not identify any action that she plans to pursue.” Id. Relatedly, the Second Circuit noted that the district court had found UDW was significantly insolvent at the time the Debtors initiated the Cayman proceedings, a finding which appellant had not challenged. Because Cayman Islands law provides that creditors must be made whole before shareholders can recover in a “winding up” proceeding, the Second Circuit concluded that shareholders, including appellant, lacked any pecuniary interest in those proceedings and the U.S. order recognizing those proceedings. Id. (citing Cayman Islands Companies Law § 140(1)).

The Second Circuit also treated as inapposite a prior chapter 15 decision invoked by appellant, Morning Mist Holdings Ltd. v. Krys (In re Fairfield Sentry Ltd.), 714 F.3d 127 (2d Cir. 2013). That decision arose from an appeal brought by shareholders of a feeder fund that invested in the Madoff fraud. The shareholders there challenged the bankruptcy court’s chapter 15 recognition of liquidation proceedings that were ongoing in the British Virgin Islands. But as the Second Circuit’s summary order here explained, standing was not at issue in that case, and the facts were distinguishable. The shareholders in Fairfield Sentry had filed a New York shareholder derivative suit that was stayed as a result of chapter 15 recognition, whereas here, the appellant could not identify any way that recognition caused her to be aggrieved.

The Second Circuit did not explicitly address the district court’s alternative basis for dismissal: i.e., that the consummation of the Debtors’ restructuring, combined with the appellant’s failure to seek a stay, rendered the appeal equitably moot. In re Ocean Rig UDW Inc., 585 B.R. at 39-41. Noting simply that it had considered the appellant’s remaining arguments and concluded that they were without merit, the Court of Appeals did not discuss the appellant’s contention that the equitable mootness doctrine is inapplicable to chapter 15 proceedings. The district court had previously rejected appellant’s arguments that equitable mootness did not apply under chapter 15, concluding that the same “principles of finality and fairness” that pertain to “domestic reorganizations” and the same “concerns of comity” that animated former section 304 of the Bankruptcy Code apply in the chapter 15 context. Id. at 41.

If you have any questions about any of the topics discussed in this opinion, please contact your Orrick attorney or any of the following attorneys:

Evan Hollander

Daniel Rubens

Ocean Rig: Charting a Course Through Chapter 15 Provisional Relief, Recognition, and Appeals

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Evan Hollander and Emmanuel Fua co-authored an article for the August 2018 issue of The Review of Banking & Financial Services about the unique issues involved in the recent chapter 15 bankruptcy proceedings of offshore drilling contractor Ocean Rig UDW. The proceedings produced precedent setting rulings regarding the scope of provisional relief available prior to a recognition hearing, the steps necessary to establish a debtor’s COMI prior to the commencement of a foreign proceeding, and the applicability of appellate standing and equitable mootness doctrines to appeals from recognition orders. Evan and Emmanuel, members of the Orrick team that acted as lead counsel to Ocean Rig in the proceedings, discuss these issues and provide useful insights for parties involved in cross-border restructurings.

Orrick Wins S.D.N.Y. Dismissal of Chapter 15 Appeal by Purported Shareholder on Standing and Equitable Mootness Grounds

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In an April 6, 2018 memorandum opinion and order, U.S. District Judge John G. Koeltl dismissed an appeal challenging the Chapter 15 recognition of a Cayman Islands restructuring of an offshore drilling contractor, holding that the appellant lacked standing and that the appeal was equitably moot. See In re Ocean Rig UDW Inc., No. 17-cv-7222 (JGK), 2018 WL 1725223 (S.D.N.Y. Apr. 6, 2018).

The appeal was brought by a purported shareholder of debtor Ocean Rig UDW Inc. (“UDW”). The purported shareholder sought review of an order issued by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Martin Glenn granting recognition of provisional liquidation and scheme of arrangement proceedings in the Cayman Islands of UDW and three of its subsidiaries (Drill Rigs Holdings Inc. (“DRH”), Drillships Financing Holding Inc. (“DFH”), and Drillships Ocean Ventures Inc. (“DOV”), collectively the “Debtors”) as “foreign main proceedings” under section 1517 of the Bankruptcy Code.

In the ancillary proceedings in the Bankruptcy Court, the appellant had opposed the Debtors’ petition for recognition on numerous grounds, including on the basis that venue was improper in the Southern District of New York, that the Debtors failed to meet their burden of proving that their center of main interests (“CoMI”) was in the Cayman Islands, that the Debtors improperly manipulated their CoMI, and that granting recognition would violate the public policy objectives of Chapter 15. The Bankruptcy Court overruled the objections of the purported shareholder and granted recognition and other related relief under sections 1520 and 1521 of the Bankruptcy Code. See In re Ocean Rig UDW Inc., 570 B.R. 687 (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. 2017).

Appellant noticed an appeal but did not seek a stay of the recognition order. Thus, the Debtors moved forward with their restructuring via four interrelated schemes of arrangement under Cayman Islands law (the “Schemes”). The Schemes involved the exchange of more than $3.7 billion of existing financial indebtedness for $450 million in new secured debt, approximately $288 million in cash payments, and new equity in UDW. Under the Schemes, existing shareholders of UDW retained a nominal amount of equity in the reorganized UDW (0.02%), but this token amount was provided solely to facilitate UDW’s ability to maintain its NASDAQ listing and was not an indication of UDW’s solvency; in fact, the indicative value of the consideration distributed to the scheme creditors was significantly less than the face amount of their claims.

Appellant did not object to the provisional liquidation proceedings or the Schemes, which were later sanctioned (i.e., approved) by the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands. Similarly, appellant did not object to the request in the Chapter 15 proceedings for entry of an enforcement order, and the Bankruptcy Court ultimately issued an order giving full force and effect to the Schemes in the United States. Promptly upon the Bankruptcy Court’s issuance of the enforcement order, the Debtors consummated the restructuring in accordance with the Schemes.

Meanwhile, in the District Court, the Debtors and their authorized foreign representative moved to dismiss the appeal, arguing that the appellant’s purported shareholder status was insufficient to give her appellate standing, and that in any event, her appeal had been rendered equitably moot by the consummation of the restructuring. The District Court granted the motion on both grounds.

Standing

As to standing, the District Court reiterated the two-pronged standard that the appellant in a bankruptcy case (1) must be an “aggrieved person” whose pecuniary interests are directly affected by the order at issue; and (2) must have “prudential standing,” in that he or she is asserting his or her “own legal rights and interests and not those of third parties.” Ocean Rig, 2018 WL 1725223, at *3. In discussing the latter prong, the District Court observed that “[p]rudential standing is particularly important in a bankruptcy context where one party may seek to challenge the plan based on the rights of third parties who favor the plan.” Id.

The District Court held that the appellant, a purported shareholder, was not an “aggrieved person” because she “did not stand to lose anything” from UDW’s restructuring. Id. The District Court reasoned that UDW was insolvent prior to initiating restructuring proceedings in the Cayman Islands, and that UDW’s Cayman Scheme had the effect of sending the “total value of UDW, represented by the new equity” to “UDW’s creditors pro rata, with no value left for its pre-restructuring shareholders.” Id. Thus, the appellant lacked the requisite pecuniary interest. Id.

Additionally, the District Court rejected the appellant’s argument that she had a pecuniary interest in the restructuring because UDW’s Scheme gave 0.02% of UDW’s newly issued equity to pre-restructuring shareholders. Id. at *4. Upon observing that UDW’s Scheme was constructed in that manner “in an effort to avoid having to re-register UDW’s shares on the NASDAQ, which would have ‘adversely affected’ the newly issued shares”—rather than because the pre-restructuring shareholders were actually entitled to the newly issued shares on account of their pre-restructuring holdings—the District Court held that the shares were merely “gifts” from UDW’s creditors. Id. The District Court then concluded that the nominal distribution of new equity to preexisting shareholders did not suggest that the Debtors were solvent, and did “not change the fact that the appellant was not entitled to receive anything as part of the debtors’ restructuring because the debtors’ creditors had not received the full portion of their claims.” Id.

The District Court further observed that while under the Second Circuit’s decision in In re DBSD N. Am., Inc., 634 F.3d 79, 95 (2d Cir. 2011), a dissenting class of unsecured creditors in a Chapter 11 case “may have standing to challenge such ‘gifts’ to shareholders,” appellant had provided no authority that the receipt of such a gift “provide[d] the recipient shareholders with standing to contest the restructuring.” Ocean Rig, 2018 WL 1725223, at *4.

Equitable Mootness

The District Court also held that dismissal was warranted on equitable mootness grounds, which it considered an independent and “additional reason” for dismissal. Id. Although the District Court recognized that the doctrine of equitable mootness originated in Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code, it noted that the doctrine had since been imported and applied in cases under Chapters 7, 9, and 13, as well as in a case involving former Bankruptcy Code section 304, the predecessor statute to Chapter 15. Id. (citing, e.g., Allstate Ins. Co. v. Hughes, 174 B.R. 884 (S.D.N.Y. 1994) (Sotomayor, J.)). The District Court found “unpersuasive” appellant’s argument that equitable mootness cases under Chapter 11 former Bankruptcy Code section 304 have no force in the Chapter 15 context, reasoning that the same “principles of finality and fairness” that pertain to “domestic organizations” and the same “concerns of comity” that animated former section 304 apply in the chapter 15 context. Id. at *6.

The District Court thus applied Second Circuit’s established equitable mootness standard to this Chapter 15 appeal. Id. at *5. Under that standard, “when a reorganization has been substantially consummated, there is a ‘strong presumption’ that an appeal of an unstayed order is moot.” Id. (collecting cases). Such presumption may only be overcome if five circumstances are present:

(a) the court can still order some effective relief; (b) such relief will not affect the re-emergence of the debtor as a revitalized corporate entity; (c) such relief will not unravel intricate transactions so as to knock the props out from under the authorization for every transaction that has taken place and create an unmanageable, uncontrollable situation for the Bankruptcy Court; (d) the parties who would be adversely affected by the modification have notice of the appeal and an opportunity to participate in the proceedings; and (e) the appellant pursue with diligence all available remedies to obtain a stay of execution of the objectionable order . . . if the failure to do so creates a situation rendering it inequitable to reverse the orders appealed from.

Id. (quoting Frito-Lay, Inc. v. LTV Steel Co. (In re Chateaugay, Corp.), 10 F.3d 944, 952-53 (2d Cir. 1993)).

In setting forth the Chateaugay standard, the District Court emphasized the importance of the appellant seeking a stay of the order at issue, citing “fairness concerns” that arise from attempts to undo a reorganization that has already been substantially completed. Id.

In applying this standard, the District Court first observed that the appellant did not seek a stay of the Bankruptcy Court’s recognition order. Id. It then found that appellees had “argue[d] persuasively” that, on their restructuring effective date, their positions “comprehensively changed” and their “Cayman reorganization ha[d] been substantially completed.” Id. In particular, the District Court noted that the Debtors had “issued new equity and made cash distributions to creditors and entered into a new secured debt facility, as well as a long-term management services agreement.” Id. Given this change of circumstances, the District Court held there was a “strong presumption” that the appeal was moot on the ground that “the debtors’ reorganization has already been substantially completed.” Id. As the appellant failed to persuade the District Court that this “strong presumption” was overcome, the District Court dismissed her appeal as equitably moot. Id. at *6.

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If you have any questions about any of the topics discussed in this opinion, please contact your Orrick attorney or any of the following attorneys:

Evan Hollander, Daniel Rubens, and Emmanuel Fua.

The Rule in Gibbs: Safeguarding Creditors’ Rights or Aiding and Abetting “Hold Out” in Foreign Insolvencies?

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There is an English common law rule that a debt governed by English law cannot be discharged or compromised by a foreign insolvency proceeding. This rule is derived from a Court of Appeal case: Antony Gibbs and sons v La Société Industrielle et Commerciale des Métaux (1890) 25 QBD 399.

The rule has been heavily criticised. Many do not consider it to be relevant in modern day cross-border insolvency proceedings following the continuing trend towards recognition of foreign insolvency proceedings (and their effects). As explained further below, some commentators see the rule as assisting creditors to “hold out” from participating in collective insolvency measures which are designed to benefit the creditor class as a whole.

The English court recently had the opportunity to review whether Gibbs still applied in Bakhshiyeva v Sberbank of Russia [2018] EWHC 59 (Ch). The court considered an application by a foreign representative to the English court on behalf of a debtor, International Bank of Azerbaijan, for a permanent stay on a creditors’ enforcement of claims in England under an English law governed contract contrary to the terms of the foreign insolvency proceeding. Under local law, the English creditors were purportedly bound. The Azerbaijani proceedings were not “terminal” liquidation proceedings and therefore, any stay would need to apply beyond the duration of the proceedings to properly bind the English creditors and to permanently give effect to the insolvency proceedings.

The foreign proceedings were conducted in Azerbaijan and had been recognised in England under the Cross-Border Insolvency Regulations 2006 (the “CBIR“) (implementing UNCITRAL Model Law). The CBIR are a procedural mechanism whereby foreign insolvency proceedings (conducted outside the EU) can be recognised and foreign representatives can seek “assistance” from courts in other jurisdictions to effect the insolvency proceedings (subject to any restrictions on the exercise of such power under local law).

The English High Court found that the rule in Gibbs did apply to prevent the court granting a permanent (or indefinite) stay on the enforcement of creditors’ English law governed contractual claims. Any stay granted by the court would be more than simply procedural and would go to the substance of creditors’ claims – the court would, in effect, be ordering the discharge of the creditor’s claim and was prohibited from doing this, following the rule in Gibbs.

The message for creditors with English law claims which are purportedly extinguished under a foreign (non-EU) insolvency process is therefore, to adopt a “hold out” position. Following the expiry of the foreign proceedings (and any related stay on creditor action), objecting creditors may then take steps to enforce English law governed contractual claims provided however, that they have not participated in the foreign insolvency proceedings (they may otherwise be deemed to have accepted the jurisdiction of the foreign proceeding).

We note many holders of English law governed bonds issued by the Greek government adopted a “hold-out” strategy knowing that the English courts would not recognise any provision of Greek law extinguishing or amending the sovereign debt.

The “territorial” nature of the rule in Gibbs is, arguably, “out of step” with trends in modern insolvency law. In the US, for example, in proceedings under Chapter 15 of the Bankruptcy Code (the US statute adopting UNCITRAL Model Law) (“Chapter 15“), US courts have enforced foreign court judgements made in foreign proceedings, including judgements which alter or vary US law governed debts or claims. Chapter 15 does however, include important public policy protections for creditors designed to forestall recognition of clearly abusive procedures.

The US has a longstanding policy of recognising restructurings of US law governed financings of foreign companies. The Supreme Court’s 1883 decision in the famous Gebhard case (Canada Southern Railway Co v Gebhard [1883] 109 US 527) set the precedent for US recognition of foreign restructuring processes in which Chief Justice Waite endorsed the recognition of the implementation of a Canadian scheme of arrangement with the words “under these circumstances the true spirit of international comity requires that schemes of this character, legalised at home, should be recognised in other countries“.

The “public policy” exception to recognition under Chapter 15 only applies in “exceptional circumstances” and includes, for example, circumstances where a creditor was denied due process and notice of the foreign insolvency proceedings of the debtor; and the denial of privacy rights. The fact that a creditor may make a more limited recovery, and the fact that the substantive law of the insolvency proceeding was not the same as US law, were not held to be “manifestly contrary” to public policy.

We note the Gibbs rule has been disapplied in the context of EU insolvency proceedings, on the basis that English courts recognise the jurisdiction of courts in respect of insolvency proceedings in Member States under the European Insolvency Regulation (“EIR“); and similar “public policy” exceptions apply. It is difficult to justify the radically different approach English courts take to non-EU insolvency proceedings particularly given the UK’s recent decision to leave the EU.

Our view is that as part of any withdrawal treaty of the UK from the EU, the parties should look to negotiate a process for mutual recognition of insolvency proceedings based on the EIR “recognition” approach. Looking outside of its relationship with the EU, it would also seem sensible for the UK to look to adopt an approach similar to US Chapter 15, for the UK courts to recognise foreign insolvency proceedings with safeguards for creditors to avoid the application of such rules only if limited public policy reasons exist to void the application of the foreign insolvency proceedings. The English court will want to avoid “re-litigating” issues dealt with under foreign insolvency proceedings, and should not examine actual recoveries made by creditors. However, a carve out on “public policy” grounds could protect English creditors if it captured circumstances where the process was evidently “discriminatory” to foreign (English) creditors.

We acknowledge there are strong arguments to retain the Gibbs rule. By entering an English law contract, creditors may feel strongly that they wish to retain the impartiality, commerciality and due process English courts are well known for.

As we near BREXIT, in this issue as in so many others, the UK has a decision to make: adopt English “exceptionalism” or take a more ‘universalist’ view implied by the recognition of foreign insolvency proceedings exemplified by the current arrangements under the EIR? The choice is looming.