Michael McMillen and L.P. Harrison 3rd Participate in World Bank's Insolvency Task Force Meeting

Partner Michael J.T. McMillen gave a presentation on Islamic Finance and Insolvency at the World Bank's Insolvency and Creditor/Debtor Regimes (ICR) Task Force meeting in Washington on November 20. Partner L.P. Harrison 3rd, co-chair of Curtis' Restructuring & Insolvency group, attended as a member of the special task force.

Mr. McMillen, who leads the firm's Islamic Finance practice, used a case study of the first formal bankruptcy/insolvency proceeding of a Shariah-compliant instruments - a corporate sukuk — to discuss Islamic Financing in the context of restructuring and bankruptcies. He featured some of the issues and lessons raised from a case study of the East Cameron Gas Company sukuk. In particular, Mr. McMillen focused on the willingness of U.S. bankruptcy courts to adopt Shari`ah-compliant structures and on the issues that arise where elements of the reorganization are not Shari`ah compliant.

The World Bank Group through the assistance of the ICR Task Force regularly tests and evaluates the effectiveness and relevance of the World Bank Group Insolvency and Creditor/Debtor Regimes standard, ensuring that the standard is disseminated and global consensus maintained in close partnership with UNCITRAL. The task force discusses any pending issues concerning the development of the standard.