Corporate Restructuring and Insolvency in Asia 2020, Asian Business Law Institute (2020, ABLI, Singapore) 804 pp., SGD 495, ISBN 978‐981‐14‐4963‐5 (print), 978‐981‐14‐5158‐4 (e‐book)

• Date: 01 December 2020
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/iir.1394
• Published date: 01 December 2020

BOOK REVIEW

Corporate Restructuring and Insolvency

in Asia 2020

Asian Business Law Institute

(2020, ABLI, Singapore) 804 pp., SGD 495, ISBN 978-981-14-4963-5 (print), 978-981-14-5158-4 (e-book)

This text is the fruit of a joint project between the Asian Business Law Institute (ABLI), based

in Singapore at the premises of the Supreme Court, and the International Insolvency Institute

(III), based in New York. The project was first conceived of in 2016 and motivated by the great

interest that the topics of restructuring and insolvency have for international institutions work-

ing with economies at differing stages of development, particularly in Asia. In order to chart the

relevance of these topics for the region, a first-phase survey was initiated between 2019–2019

into the laws prevailing in the ASEAN group of nations and six other countries with which

FTAs have been entered into by the group. This text is the direct outcome of that survey and

was produced to help inform the ultimate goal of the project, which, in its second phase

(2020-onwards), is to produce a set of principles covering court-based and out-of-court

restructuring and cognate processes specifically tailored to the Asian context.

As a matter of general observation, the ASEAN nations are at varying stages of development,

but all have aspirations to improve exports of both primary commodities and manufactured goods

as well as attract foreign direct investment, as strategies to grow their economies. Politically, the

countries concerned mostly exhibit Parliamentary democracy-type governance, albeit with some

challenges (ranging from corruption to poor infrastructure and connective networks). However, sit-

ting astride some of the most important sea routes, from the historical period to the modern day,

the ASEAN countries can justifiably boast of their long connection with trade. Nonetheless, the

landscape of development in these countries, ranging from the emerging and developing to the

developed, could constitute a challenge to the formulation of a single set of principles that would

comfortably encapsulate the diversity of economies and governance structures.

In order to carry out the survey, a questionnaire was developed containing over 200 questions

inspired by the excellent model developed by Professors Wessels and Madaus for their European

Law Institute project. The questionnaire, which was drafted to reflect many of the critical issues

pervading the Asian context,

1

dealt with a considerable variety of topics, both procedural and sub-

stantive, as well as looking at the role played by key stakeholders, including debtors, creditors,

office-holders and the courts. The structure of the questionnaire takes readers through the sequence

of an insolvency process from opening to closingstagesandpicksuponcontemporaryconcerns

along the way, such as the use of rescue financing, the variation in ranking and priorities as well as

the availability of cross-border frameworks assisting in coordination and cooperation.

These, along with many other themes and topics are also reflected in the comprehensive

survey alongside more traditional issues, such as the position of employees and creditors. The

Received: 24 August 2020 Accepted: 24 August 2020

DOI: 10.1002/iir.1394

© 2020 INSOL International and John Wiley & Sons Ltd

Int Insolv Rev. 2020;29:421–422. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/iir 421