Restructuring and insolvency transactions

Restructuring and insolvency transactions—content

Content on Restructuring and insolvency transactions in this subtopic includes the following Practice Notes:

Insolvency and environmental issues in practice

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When an Insolvency Practitioner (IP) can become personally liable for breaches of environmental law—which looks at when and how an insolvency practitioner can become personally liable for a company’s breaches of environmental law. It covers the sources of environmental liability, and the tasks the different types of IP should undertake when faced with environmental issues
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Steps an Insolvency Practitioner should take when faced with contaminated land—which deals with the steps an insolvency practitioner should take when faced with contaminated land and deals with the background to the contaminated land regime, determining the responsibility for clean-up, remediation works, and what an IP should do
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Insolvency practitioners and environmental permits—which covers the role of IPs where an environmental permit, issued under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016 (EPR 2016), SI 2016/1154, is

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Latest Environment News

Commission evaluation finds WEEE Directive requires significant reform

The European Commission has published an evaluation of Directive 2012/19/EU (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive), identifying five major shortcomings requiring reform. The evaluation found that only three EU member states met the 65% collection target in 2022, while highlighting inadequate scope coverage for new waste streams, fragmented Extended Producer Responsibility schemes, and low implementation of quality treatment standards. The Commission will consider these findings during the WEEE Directive revision process as part of the upcoming Circular Economy Act, with potential measures including mandatory treatment standards and expanded scope to include green and digital equipment.

Luciano Lliuya v RWE AG

Environment analysis: After almost a decade of litigation, on 28 May 2025, the final judgment on Luciano Lliuya v RWE AG (2015) Case No 2 O 285/15 was handed down by the Higher Regional Court (Oberlandesgericht, OLG) of Hamm Germany. In this landmark civil climate change ruling the court held that while there needs to be a causal chain between the actions of the defendant and risk of damage to the claimant, single entities may have a responsibility for impacts relating to their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Although RWE successfully defended the claim, the court established important legal principles for climate litigation which has significance for large companies. In summary, the court held that individual entities that emit GHG can, in principle, be held accountable for the impacts of their emissions under German civil law. Written by Tallat Hussain, partner, Amber Davies, associate and Grace Durnall, trainee in the Energy and Natural Resources at Reed Smith LLP.

Commission launches Hydrogen Mechanism under EU Energy and Raw Materials Platform

The European Commission has launched the Hydrogen Mechanism, the first operational component of the EU Energy and Raw Materials Platform. The mechanism, established under Regulation EU/2024/1789 on the internal markets for renewable gas, natural gas and hydrogen, aims to support the market development of renewable and low-carbon hydrogen, as well as its derivatives, including ammonia, methanol and electro-sustainable aviation fuel, until the end of 2029. The online platform will host various mechanisms covering hydrogen, raw materials, natural gas and biomethane, with the potential to include additional products in the future. Registration is now open for stakeholders, with the first supply-demand matching round scheduled for September 2025.

ISSB consults on amendments to SASB Standards and IFRS S2 guidance

The International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) has published two exposure drafts proposing amendments to the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) Standards and consequential amendments to the industry-based guidance on implementing International Financial Reporting Standard 2 (IFRS S2). The proposals include: (1) a comprehensive review of nine priority industries (all eight industries within the extractives and minerals processing sector and the processed foods industry); (2) metric alignments across 41 additional industries covering topics such as water management and workforce health and safety; and (3) updates to the IFRS 2 industry-based guidance to maintain alignment with climate-related content in the SASB standards. Final amendments are expected in 2026, subject to stakeholder feedback. Before the end of 2025, the ISSB will also publish exposure drafts for proposed enhancements to three further SASB Standards: electric utilities and power generators, and two standards in the food and beverage sector. It will consider an additional group of industries for prioritisation for future enhancements later in 2025.