Speaker: Prof. Gerard McCormack, Professor of International Business Law, University of Leeds

Moderator: Prof. Norman P. Ho, Peking University School of Transnational Law

Time: 12:15-13:30 p.m., June 5, 2023, GMT+8

Venue: Zoom Meeting ID: 829 1002 5731 Passcode: 325224

Language: English

Abstract:

There is a long-established principle that the discharge or modification of a debt under foreigninsolvency law will not be given effect in the UK where the contract creating the debt isgoverned by UK law. because it is 'not a law of the country to which the contract belongs, orone by which the contracting parties can be taken to have agreed to be bound; it is the law ofanother country by which they have not agreed to be bound. The same general principleapplies in Hong Kong. The principle is often known as the Gibbs rule. It has come undersustained attack from those advocating a more universalist approach to the restructuring ofdebt obligations It is said to be parochial and narrow-minded with its exclusive focus on thebilateral contractual regime to the neglect of more multilateral universalist concerns. Thisoresentation asks whether the Gibbs rule can and should survive. It suggests that the rule maysurvive as a residual common law principle but its application should be cut back, throughUK implementation ofthe new UNCITRAL Model Law on Insolvency Related Judgments.

Biography:

Gerard McCormack is a Professor ofInternational Business Law at the University of Leedsin the UK. His research interests are in the corporate and commercial field, with a particularemphasis on insolvency law from an international and comparative perspective. His recentpublications include two monographs, The European Restructuring Directive (2021) and EUInsolvency Law - Cross Border Insolvency Law in Comparative Focus (2022).

Source: Peking University Law School