News
Thursday, July 31, 2008
One of Spain's biggest property developers Martinsa-Fadesa became one of the country's biggest ever insolvencies on 15 July, prompting fears of more collapses.
The market was shocked that Martinsa was forced to file, considering that so much effort had gone in to a restructuring which the company had agreed with its banks in May.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
The chief executive of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Giovaanni Bisignni, told its annual conference on 2 June that:
The chief executive of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Giovaanni Bisignni, told its annual conference on 2 June that: "Twenty-four airlines have gone bust in the last six months and US$130 per barrel oil is reshaping the industry even as we speak. In the next 12 months we could face US$99 billion in extra costs from oil."
Monday, May 19, 2008
The Turnaround Management Association(TMA) held its first ever pan-European conference in Paris in April....
The Turnaround Management Association(TMA) held its first ever pan-European conference in Paris in April to drum up support for a new Chapter that would unite Germany, France, the UK and other jurisdictions in a single high-profile body. To find out more go to www.tma-uk.org or www.turnaround.org
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Litigation Funding Conference 12/13 March 2008 London
The market for litigation funding is growing and it is a new big sectors of interest for corporate clients, lawyers, corporates, insolvency practitioners and, crucially, funding institutions. For the first time, this conference brings together all of the key players in London in March 2008. As well as examining the legal and technical basis for the development of the the litigation funding market, this conference offers delegates an opportunity to understand the pace of change in the litigation funding space, as well as to meet and network among important players in the litigation funding market. For more information go to Event brochure
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Ernst & Young and KPMG are returning to the US restructuring market, after being forced out three years ago by conflict-of-interest concerns in the Sarbanes-Oxley era.
The Big Four rivals are set to announce new restructuring practices in the US for two reasons; the expiration of non-compete clauses with the respective American firms they sold their US restructuring practices to; and a softening of opposition by the American authorities to acountancy firms offering non-audit sevices to audit clients.
Friday, October 19, 2007
US accused of 'judicial xenophobia'
The question of how to restructure or liquidate offshore-registered hedge funds was thrown into disarray when a New York bankruptcy judge rejected Chaper 15 protection for two Bear Stearns funds. Judge Burton Lifland's decision to deny the Cayman liquidation eiter 'main' or'non-main' recognition has ignited a storm of debate, not lest becasue he was one of the authors of Chapter 15.
Monday, September 03, 2007
The crisis in the capital markets provoked by the US subprime mortgage meltdown will cause restructurings to rise, but not yet, according to bankruptcy professionals.
Bankers are waiting for the uncertainty surrounding the valuation of mortgage-based securties to clear. Distressed investors are waiting for debt prices to fall further. Meanwhile private equity deals and refinancings at the higher end of the market are on hold. This may lead to a 'return to normal', after several years when restructurings have been replaced by refinancings. A numer of subprime mortgage lenders and hedge funds have gone bust, with more expected to follow. 'Covenant lite' is dead,. Risk analysis is back in fashion.
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
On 18 July Alan Bloom, Maggie Mills, Roy Bailey and Stephen Harris of Ernst & Young (E&Y) were appointed administrators to Metronet, the contractor responsible for maintaining two thirds of London's Underground network. The case is one of the three largest administrations in British history, and comes against a background of a flat market for big restructurings, despite the current upheavals in the credit markets.
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
The longest and most expensive trial in British history collapsed on 2 November when the liquidators of Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) unexpectedly dropped their case against the Bank of England.
The liquidators from Deloitte said their legal costs for the 256-day case were about UK£38 million (US$65 million). They face a hearing on Friday 11 November where the Bank has declared it will pursue them for its own costs of about UK£70 million (US$120 million).
The Judge Mr Justice Tomlinson said on Wednesday he may also make a further statement at that hearing about the way the liquidators pursued the case.
After hearing of the liquidators' shock decision on Wednesday morning, Mr Justice Tomlinson said the documentary evidence and witness statements from former Bank officials had "left me in no doubt that the very serious allegations of impropriety and dishonesty ... are wholly without foundation".
The Judge added that he had been surprised throughout the year of the trial that it had continued so long.
BCCI was shut by regulators led by the Bank of England in 1991 following decades of corruption and hidden losses, which left it owing creditors over UK£10 billion (US$17 billion).
Deloitte pointed out this week that even with this week’s set-back, the liquidation has been a spectacular success. So far, Deloitte has paid out 75 per cent of the £4.1 billion
(US$7 billion) it has recovered to creditors and will pay back another 6 per cent by December. It estimated in 1991 that it would recover about 10 per cent of BCCI’s
losses, whereas now it is set to pay creditors about 80 per cent.
In dramatic scenes at the High Court in London on Wednesday, Nicholas Stadlen QC,
for the Bank, described the news of the liquidators’ withdrawal as a "the most
remarkable and humiliating climb-down in the history of England litigation" and
declared triumphantly: "This is unconditional surrender."
The allegations centred on 22 Bank officials who the liquidators claimed knew BCCI was in a bad state long before its crash and failed to take steps to prevent what has been described as the largest banking collapse in modern history. They also alleged the Bank knew it should never have granted a licence to BCCI in 1980.
Regulators the world over cannot be sued for negligence, so the liquidators were forced to sue for the much more serious allegation of misfeasance in public office –
that is, acting in a knowingly dishonest manner in order to deceive the public.
The Governor of the Bank, Mervyn King, who was coincidentally sitting at the back of the court on Wednesday, said he was "delighted" at the outcome. He said: "There has never been a shred of evidence to support these disgraceful allegations, and the case has collapsed as we always said it would.”
"The foolish determination to pursue a hopeless case for so long has also led to a huge waste of creditors' and taxpayers' money, and I hope everyone concerned will take a close look at how and why such a very weak case took 12 years to come to an end.
The Bank will be seeking the largest possible compensation for its costs," said King.
You can read the the full transcript of the sensational last day in court, as well as the
liquidator’s subsequent press statement,
Download this article, including BCCI Trial Firms and Faces.