We are currently planning a members’ session to be held the week of May 17 (exact details to be announced in the coming weeks). Your committee leadership is looking at continuing various educational programs through hosting webinars. In November, we put together the annual ABI International North American Insolvency Symposium. Many of the members of the committee were also heavily involved in the ABI International Caribbean Insolvency Symposium that was held in the Cayman Islands this past January.

We thank Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher and Flom LLP for hosting last year’s ABI International North American Insolvency Symposium, and they are also set to host this year’s conference on Wednesday, November 5. Other upcoming events with an international focus are the ABI International Latin America Insolvency Symposium, taking place in Cartagena, Colombia, May 12-14, and the ABI International European Symposium, taking place in Berlin in early October.

Setting the Scene
Picture this fictitious scenario. A Christmas tree merchant on Chancery Lane in London, Mr. X, has incurred a net loss of £1.1 million at the end of the month of July since January. During a meeting with his lawyer, Ms. Y, she advised him that he was at risk of wrongful trading — abusing his limited-liability privileges — and that he should consider ceasing trading. Irritated, Mr. X shrugged and ignored Ms. Y’s advice, telling her that (1) he knew best how to run his business; (2) she was a mere lawyer and not a businesswoman, and had no clue how his business was run; (3) it was normal that debts would mount in the summer months; (4) he would rely on his company’s limited-liability protection even if the company were to fold, and his liability was only £100,000; and (5) once October came, his business would thrive again.

The highlight of the symposium was the keynote by Leo Zuckermann, a former Mexican government advisor, who delivered an outstanding presentation on Mexico’s political and economic trajectory. His insights resonated deeply with attendees, offering a thought-provoking perspective on the region’s future and solidifying the keynote’s status as the best presentation of the conference.

Throughout the event, attendees engaged in seven sessions covering critical topics on cross-border insolvency, economic trends and legal frameworks in Latin America. The first session explored “A Comparison of Insolvency Regimes and Fiduciary Duties: United States, Mexico, Offshore, and Beyond,” delving into the differences between U.S. chapter 11, Mexico’s Concurso Mercantil, and offshore insolvency regimes. The panelists also examined fiduciary duties across jurisdictions, highlighting key surprises that foreign creditors might face in a U.S. chapter 11 case.

Overall
In 2024, 49 chapter 15 petitions were filed — the same volume as in 2023 — despite a surge in overall bankruptcy filings. Canada represented the location of the majority of the foreign proceedings, 24, followed by the Cayman Islands with eight. All petitions sought recognition of a foreign main proceeding, with some seeking recognition as a foreign non-main proceeding as an alternative. The District of Delaware was the busiest district with 15 filings, closely followed by the Southern District of New York with 13.

The restructuring of Houston-headquartered McDermott International, a global engineering group, was the biggest and most important restructuring in 2023/24 in terms of jurisdictions involved, innovation, degree of opposition and quantum. Against fierce opposition in multiple jurisdictions, the debtors successfully consummated this c.$5 billion restructuring via a U.K. restructuring plan and two Dutch “WHOAs” (the new Dutch restructuring plan), with U.S. recognition via chapter 15. This was a truly global restructuring: McDermott has more than 300 entities around the globe, in North, Central and South America; Europe; Africa; Asia; the Middle East and Australia.

>McDermott was also the most-contested U.K. restructuring plan ever: It was opposed by three separate groups of stakeholders, and was ultimately approved following an unprecedented six-day sanction hearing. The parallel WHOAs and U.S. recognition similarly faced major opposition. Reficar, an opposing creditor owned by the Colombian government, also attempted to use international mechanisms in multiple jurisdictions to seek disclosure/discovery and to enforce its $1.3 billion arbitration award during the restructuring.