WEBINAR DETAILS
Date: 26 November 2020
Time: 1:00 PM UTC
Duration: 60 min
Language: English
Format: Online
This webinar is over - watch on demand here
WEBINAR DESCRIPTION

Nigeria: Rise of Insolvencies & Restructurings Post Covid

The Nigerian Company law dealing also with insolvency had not been amended for 30 years. It borrowed from the United Kingdom’s 1948 Companies Act. In Nigeria, a company would be said to be insolvent only after a court declared it so. It is compulsorily wound up if it is unable to meet its financial obligations. Until August 2020, the general insolvency framework created was liquidation oriented and had virtually no formal collective framework for Business Rescue except for the ambivalent and neutral tool of scheme of Arrangement & Compromise. The new Law introduces a more robust insolvency and restructuring framework and provides business rescue options for companies in financial difficulty. Its accommodation of moratorium period and stay of litigation provides a lifeline to viable businesses which are still capable of being rescued. The Act notably adds the formal business rescue procedures of Company Voluntary Arrangements (Section 434), Administration (Section 443-549) and extends existing Scheme of Arrangements & Compromises to cover Reconstructions. Netting provisions (Section 718-721) have also been inserted in the new law to provide for protection of financial contracts in insolvency. This Webinar intends to enlighten participants on the impact of the new law, and highlight sundry initiatives that are or will be helping companies, actual or prospective local and foreign investors regarding ease of doing business, continuity in business, restructuring and/or exiting options/strategies available in the event of insolvency. It also intends to discuss how stakeholders should latch on or adapt to the new paradigm create by the new law particularly in a COVID-19 pandemic context which pandemic is tasking government, financial institutions and businesses to re-think.

SPEAKERS
Anthony Idigbe

A seasoned legal practitioner with over 35 years experience; Chief Anthony Idigbe was elevated to the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) in 2000 and has distinguished himself in the areas of : Advocacy, Insolvency, Arbitration, Dispute Resolution, Consultancy and Process Advisory Services, Privatization, Capital Markets, Mergers & Acquisitions, Aviation law, Telecommunications, amongst others. He is a Fellow of the International Bar Association, Insolvency International (INSOL) and the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb), UK. Chief Idigbe has worked closely with corporate bodies, government agencies and high net worth individuals on both contentious and non-contentious matters.

Bolanle Adebola

Bolanle is a leading expert in insolvency law. She is an Associate Professor of International Commercial Law at the University of Reading, where she obtained the prestigious Arts and Humanities Research Council Grant through which she set up the Commercial Law Research Network Nigeria (CLRNN). She is actively engaged in capacity building and development of modern corporate rescue and insolvency practices in emerging markets. She has facilitated events for Business Recovery and Insolvency Practitioners Association of Nigeria and provided training at the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies.

Amaechi Nsofor

Amaechi heads up Grant Thornton UK based Africa Business Group. He has over 15 years experience providing financial advisory services across the UK and Africa. He is a frequent Africa thought leadership publisher and has provided feedback to UK government on trade policies. After building up extensive project credentials in the UK and Europe, Amaechi has also worked on transactions in over 20 African countries in a career that has spanned over 20 years. Amaechi sits on the board of the UK's Institute of Directors, the influential body that has been empowered under Royal Charter to protect and promote the interests of UK businesses.

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