The economic landscape has changed immeasurably as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Access to cheap credit has disappeared, and many companies have raced to draw down on existing facilities in an effort to access as much liquidity as possible in the face of unprecedented disruption across most sectors. The impact of the pandemic has been most acute on the travel, retail and leisure industry sectors, where there has been an uptick in insolvencies, with businesses facing sudden cash-flow problems and covenant breaches. In addition, anticipated restructurings of some other companies, particularly in the oil and gas sector, have been accelerated. Against this backdrop, the government is seeking to reform the insolvency landscape to provide relief to companies which are facing unprecedented issues.

In this episode, Akin Gump London-based financial restructuring partners Liz Osborne and Emma Simmonds discuss the following topics:

• Recent themes and trends in the restructuring market
• Liquidity and other issues facing companies during the crisis
• Proposed reforms to U.K. insolvency laws.