Part I Corporate Debt Restructuring, 1 Insolvency in the UK and the US

This chapter starts by presenting the case for a comparative approach of the UK and US models for financial restructurings of companies in financial difficulties. It argues that a comparison is useful as the systems used to deal with financial problems are actually very dissimilar. The US has its chapter 11 regime, which is a statutory process under the Bankruptcy Code. This allows a company to restructure under court protection and does not require proof of insolvency. The English system has, by contrast, a mixed approach of contract, common law, and statute and no formal regime specifically designed to achieve a financial restructuring of secured debt. The chapter also considers what changes have occurred since the first edition of this book was published.