Welcome to the 2021 edition of ICLG - Restructuring & Insolvency. This year's edition contains contributions from many leading practitioners, including an insight into the issues in restructuring and insolvency across 24 jurisdictions.

Welcome to the 2021 edition of ICLG - Restructuring & Insolvency. Macfarlanes is delighted to continue to serve as the Guide's contributing editor. The detailed content of year's edition is very different from years gone by, primarily as a consequence of the government reactions to the consequences of COVID-19, and I expect that there will be yet more change to reflect in the chapters of this Guide in the years to come. A lot of what we have seen in the past year could be described as 'crisis management'. For example, suspensions of director liability for late insolvency filings and blocks on creditor action to recover unpaid debts in many jurisdictions have helped to ensure that formal insolvencies are much lower than the historic average. However, those types of measures fail to address the massive accrual of liabilities on corporate balance sheets through the deferral of tax payments, the non-payment of rent to landlords and borrowing under government-backed loan schemes. If the post-pandemic economic recovery is not to be drawn out for many years to come, practitioners will need to come up with appropriate solutions - potentially with the assistance of further legal reform. My colleagues Simon Beale and Amy Walker consider this in their Expert Analysis chapter, which I commend to you. This year's edition contains contributions from many leading practitioners, including an insight into the issues in restructuring and insolvency across 24 jurisdictions. We are very grateful for their support and we trust that you will find it valuable. Please do get in touch with relevant contributors directly, should you need to understand the most recent developments in any particular place.