Clifford Chance

Consent Fees and Noteholder Meetings

23 April 2013

Earlier this week, the Court of Appeal upheld the first instance decision of Mr Justice Hamblen in Azevedo v Imcopa Importacao and others, confirming that payments of consent fees in exchange for votes in favour of amendments to the terms of debt securities were neither unlawful, nor in breach of a contractual obligation to distribute any payments pari passu. Nevertheless the withdrawal of the conjoined appeal in Assenagon Asset Management S.A. v Irish Bank Resolution Corporation [2012] EWHC 2090 (Ch) has left certain important principles untested before the higher Courts.

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