Here's how some countries are reacting to the Covid-19 pandemic in the Insolvency space.

1. United Kingdom.

Treatment of Furloughed Employees in Administration Proceedings — the First English High Court Judgment In the first ruling of its kind, the English court ruled on 13 April 2020 that the UK’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme in respect of furloughed employees is available to a company in administration and provided related directions as to the variation and adoption of affected employment contracts. The judgment also includes a welcome statement that “wherever possible, the courts should work constructively together with the insolvency profession to implement the government’s unprecedented response to the crisis in [an] innovative manner”. 

2. Czech Republic.

The Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic has recently approved a new bill "Lex Covid" and related Acts which propose a number of significant changes to insolvency proceedings which include the introduction of an Extraordinary Moratorium to provide temporary protection to undertakings that were not bankrupt before the state of emergency was imposed; the temporary suspension of the debtor’s obligation to file an insolvency petition due to bankruptcy; and a temporary limitation on creditors rights to file an insolvency petition.

3. Singapore’s Response to Covid-19:

Singapore has passed a new law that gives temporary respite for individuals and businesses in financial distress by temporarily i) for individuals: increasing the monetary threshold for bankruptcy from $15,000 to $60,000 and increasing the time period to satisfy or set aside a statutory demand from 21 days to 6 months and ii) for companies: increasing the monetary threshold for insolvency from $10,000 to $100,000 and increasing the time period to satisfy or set aside a statutory demand from 21 days to 6 months.

4. New Zealand.

On 3 April 2020, the Government of New Zealand announced that it will amend the Companies Act 1993 to provide additional comfort to directors of companies during the next six months and will also introduce “Covid-19 Business Debt Hibernation” as an option to help businesses survive the deterioration in the business environment. The proposed legislation to give effect to the changes has not yet been made public.

5. Brazil.

On 1 April 2020, Congressman Hugo Leal (PSD/RJ) introduced Bill No. 1,397/2020 to the House of Representatives to amend the Brazilian Bankruptcy Law, including new emergency relief measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of the Bill is to provide a framework for companies hurt by the pandemic to continue their activities without the need to file for judicial reorganisation or prepackaged reorganisation and to provide further flexibility to companies that opt to file for judicial reorganisation or pre-packaged reorganisation. 

6. Australia.

Coronavirus Economic Response Package Omnibus Act 2020 (Cth) (Response Act) that included a number of amendments to the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) (CA) as well as the Bankruptcy Act 1966 (Cth) (BA) as part of its assistance package. The changes include a relaxation on the duty of the directors trading while the company is technically insolvent, moratorium on evictions by landlords for a period of 6 months and deferral of loan repayments for up to 6 months, with interest to be capitalised for both business and home loans.

Source.. Insol International.