As we publish our fourth quarter edition of the Newswire, global economic challenges abound. The International Monetary Fund last week warned that the world economy is heading toward a potentially severe recession as central banks aggressively raise interest rates, Russia's war in Ukraine continues, and supply chain disruptions persist.
In its World Economic Outlook report, the IMF lowered its global growth forecast for next year in the face of "steep challenges" and warned that "the worst is yet to come" for many countries. "Risks to the outlook remain unusually large and to the downside…while global tightening in financing conditions could trigger widespread emerging market debt distress."
With the IMF's warning ringing in our ears, in this issue we attempt to grapple with some of the knottier issues facing the restructuring landscape. We look at a recent decision in Delaware that impacts the ability of foreign companies to restructure in the US, Australian laws dealing with financial crimes in an economic downturn, and proposals in Canada to regulate high cost loans.
Our readers will also note in this issue that we have changed the name of our group from Financial Restructuring and Insolvency to the simpler title of Restructuring. We believe this new name more clearly reflects our group's broad mandate to handle the gamut of matters from out-of-court restructurings to more formal judicial proceedings. Other than the name change, our group remains hard at work advising our clients on issues brought on by the ongoing economic turmoil.
Good reading,
Howard Seife
Global Co-Head of Restructuring
Scott Atkins
Chair, Australia
Global Co-Head of Restructuring
Publication
On 6 September 2022, the European Commission (EC) prohibited Illumina’s acquisition of Grail, bringing to an end the administrative stage of a legal saga that has attracted interest beyond competition law specialists.
Publication
In last month’s roundtable, we discussed the significant and increasing changes facing the legal industry, and managing that change as a legal team.
Publication
On February 2, 2024, the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union confirmed that the Committee of Permanent Representatives had signed the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Regulation, referred to as the AI Act. Approval by the EU Parliament followed on 13 March 2024, and the AI Act is likely to appear in the EU’s Official Journal around May 2024. The AI Act aims to establish a stringent legal framework governing the development, marketing, and utilisation of artificial intelligence within the region, thereby marking a significant advancement in the regulation of this burgeoning domain.
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