Conference programme

A number of jurisdictions have enacted new restructuring regimes in the recent years. Such regimes provide different features, many times adapted to the particular circumstances of the applicable jurisdiction. The purpose of this panel would be to offer an oversight of certain of those restructuring regimes, and to assess, in the light of their applicable features, which ones would suit better equity holders, creditors, debtors, employees and other eventual stakeholders with an interest in the restructuring process.

Preventive restructuring frameworks are aimed at achieving effective restructuring of debtors at an early stage and avoiding insolvency, thereby limiting the unnecessary liquidation of viable companies. This panel will discuss the most relevant issues that the implementation of these new restructuring frameworks has brought to light and how to address them.

Recent events in the world related to the pandemic and the war in Ukraine have contributed to the need to implement modifications and look for new tools in the field of restructuring law to accelerate the exit of enterprises from the crisis and save the economy. For this purpose, many countries implemented new out-of-court restructuring proceedings or institutions. During the panel, their effectiveness and enforcement will be discussed. The speakers will conduct a qualitative and quantitative comparative analysis of solutions in their insolvency systems: Mexico, The United Kingdom, Luxembourg and Lithuania.

A key benefit of company restructurings may be the protections afforded to owners, directors and officers through the release of creditor claims against them. On this panel, we will explore the standards for obtaining third party releases in jurisdictions around the world, including in the US where there is now a strong split amongst the federal circuits on this controversial and timely topic.

This session will consider:

• processes available;

• practical issues from the perspectives of legal advisers, insolvency practitioners and creditors;

• inter-creditor issues arising from a multi-creditor, multijurisdiction insolvency;

• role of creditors committees;

• negotiations with and among various creditor classes; and

• the evolving issue of ‘creditor-on-creditor violence’

Conference delegates will hear from an experienced panel of international insolvency experts about the benefits and challenges of distressed M&A transactions, developments across jurisdictions and predictions for where the market is headed, including:

• understanding and designing stalking-horse and competitive bidding processes;

• choosing the right structure – share deals versus asset deals;

• mechanisms to transfer assets, contracts and other property, while minimising trailing liabilities;

• pre-packs: advantages/disadvantages of sales inside versus outside of an insolvency proceeding; and

• diligence and opportunities to implement operational changes as part of the transaction