Restructuring Plans in the Uk: On the Knife’s Edge Between Substantive Fairness and Legal Certainty

Abstract

Debt fragmentation is a hallmark of the present market landscape.  This feature of capital markets has dramatically altered the dynamics of debt restructurings and has placed collective-action problems into even sharper focus.  With a view not to being held up by dissenting creditors, companies have increasingly resorted to regimes that make provision for majority action, chiefly schemes of arrangement and restructuring plans, under Pt 26 and Pt 26A of the Companies Act, respectively.  Though focusing on Pt 26A, I assert that neither alternative provides a complete answer to the problems at the heart of corporate restructuring.