Restructuring and insolvency

We regularly advise our clients on all legal aspects in Oman. This includes restructuring and insolvency proceedings.

When and if such advice is required, our multidisciplinary team has extensive experience advising clients across a range of local and cross-border debt restructuring and insolvency matters.

Oman’s Bankruptcy Law 53/2019 came into force and effect on 7 July 2020, and supersedes Book 5 of the Law of Commerce 55/90 as the primary source of Oman’s bankruptcy laws. The Bankruptcy Law is divided into the following sections:

• Restructurings
• Preventative Compositions
• Bankruptcies

Preventative compositions and bankruptcies were previously regulated by the Law of Commerce. Both procedures continue to involve filing petitions to the court. However restructurings under the Bankruptcy Law offer a new framework through which a trader can seek a MOCIIP-mediated consensus with one or more of its creditors. This formal process may yield results that elude private one-to-one negotiations with individual creditors. The trader will also continue to manage its assets.

Our banking team is well equipped to advise on restructurings, preventative compositions and bankruptcies under the Bankruptcy Law, as well as on privately negotiated restructurings and reschedulings of debt. We frequently advise the directors of companies in financial distress on their duties and obligations under the Bankruptcy Law, as well as on the application of capital adequacy requirements under the Companies Law 18/2021. Our disputes team is on hand to advise when solvency issues become contentious, while transactional solutions (e.g. through equity fundraisings and distressed M&A) are provided through our corporate team.

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