With the rate of economic globalisation, we now face more and more large cross-border insolvency cases. In an insolvency situation that involves creditors from several jurisdictions, it is important for a country to have clear rules for handling the assets and liabilities of debtors and settling rights and obligations between creditors and debtors, as well as systems to allow speedy recovery and restructuring, which would strengthen the credibility and, ultimately, economic competitiveness of a country. Recently, countries in the Asia Pacific area have developed and amended their insolvency legal systems by adjusting the balance between the protection of creditors and that of debtors, and/or attempting to improve the speed and flexibility of restructuring.

In this session, each panellist will report on and discuss the update of recent legal reforms and practices in each jurisdiction, analysing from the view point of, among others: (1) protection and involvement of trade creditors and financial creditors; (2) the player who leads the proceedings and its power and role thereunder (ie, creditors leading the proceedings versus court/debtor leading the proceedings); and (3) how much/often such proceedings have been used. Further, each panellist is to provide an update on the latest major insolvency cases in each jurisdiction.