Insolvency and Restructuring

Tanner De Witt acts for insolvency practitioners, creditors, directors, shareholders, companies and individuals facing cash flow difficulties. The firm has been involved in a wide spectrum of insolvency administrations and complex restructurings.

Our lawyers, with their City firm backgrounds, have had extensive experience not only in Hong Kong and Asia but in jurisdictions varying from the Cayman Islands to London. Our understanding of the local business environment, our knowledge, our experience and proven track record mean that we add value in the field.

Our Services

Our lawyers have extensive experience in providing legal services to companies and insolvency practitioners in Hong Kong, the PRC and throughout the Asia Pacific Region. We advise and act on:

• Company restructurings and reorganisations, formal and informal
• European, North American and Asian insolvency cases
• Contentious and non-contentious matters within insolvency administrations
• Insolvency procedures in Hong Kong and cross border jurisdictional issues
• Solvent restructurings
• Corporate rescue including schemes of arrangements
• Winding-up, provisional liquidators and court appointed receivers
• Bankruptcy and individual voluntary arrangements
• Directors duties
• Litigation, asset tracing and recovery and the enforcement of security
• Debt collection

Our Experience

Examples of our lawyers' wide experience include:

• The firm played a pivotal role in connection with the appointment of provisional liquidators to Oasis Hong Kong Airlines, and was instructed by the provisional liquidators in all aspects of this multi-facted administration, which has presented some unique challenges given the international scope of the Oasis business and the high-profile nature of the collapse.
• Successfully acting in what is now the leading case of an unfair preference action in a "non-associate" case where the firm acted for the liquidators against a receiver holding the proceeds of certain assets that were "preferred" to the company's bankers.
• Advising the receivers appointed in respect of an online trading company selling CDs and DVDs following a much publicised judgment against the company in the UK for some £40 million. Notwithstanding the UK judgment, the receivers successfully concluded a sale of the company's assets following a period of trading under receivership, a rare event in Hong Kong.
• Assisting receivers appointed by the Jersey Court over a Jersey trust in taking legal action in Hong Kong to secure control over entities within the trust structure in an effort to enable court-ordered payments of several million pounds to be made to a disenfranchised beneficiary of the trust, in connection with a long-running and high-profile matrimonial matter in Hong Kong concerning a jewellery trading family.
• Advising a US-based manufacturer of retail electronic products in connection with difficulties arising with its Hong Kong and PRC partners, concerning indebtedness of in excess of US$70 million.

Our Clients

Our clients come from the whole spectrum of businesses, from sole proprietors of Hong Kong trading businesses, to individuals facing cash flow difficulties, through to the largest accountancy firms and banks; from Hong Kong listed companies, through to the world's international airline industry trade association. In this respect, size really does not matter to us.

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