Journal of Bankruptcy Law Publishes Moore and Cohen Article on Cross-Border Restructurings

Journal of Bankruptcy Law has published “In the Matter of CW Advanced Technologies Limited—An Intriguing Decision in Hong Kong Concerning Cross-Border Insolvencies and Restructurings and the New Singaporean Restructuring Regime,” written by Akin Gump partners Naomi Moore and Daniel Cohen. The article discusses a decision by the High Court of Hong Kong reaffirming the court’s “pragmatic” approach to cross-border restructuring.

The article begins with some background on the case, which involved CW Advanced Technologies Limited (CWATL)—“a Hong Kong domiciled company, which is part of a group of companies headquartered in Singapore and in the business of providing precision engineering solutions.” CW Group, as it is known, fell into financial distress, Moore and Cohen write, which it proposed to address through a debt restructuring.

The authors detail the proceedings that ultimately led to the court decision in question. In the end, they write, the decision “arguably brings us a step closer to establishing whether a foreign debtor-in-possession restructuring or rehabilitation process, such as a Chapter 11 debt restructuring, is capable of being recognized in Hong Kong.” For now, however, there are several unresolved questions, “concerning the extent to which collective insolvency proceedings are capable of being recognized in Hong Kong.”

To read the full article, please click here.