Moderator: Rob van Sigtenhorst, INSOL Fellow, TOON, the Netherlands

Rob van den Sigtenhorst specialises in Banking & Finance and Restructuring & Insolvency. Rob is an expert on the ‘Dutch Scheme’ (WHOA or ACPRP/CERP); he was closely involved with its creation and authored the standard commentary on the new law (Tekst & Commentaar) and various other publications. Rob has been working on several large-scale, complex and high-profile (cross-border) restructuring cases, recently among other things HEMA and VoetbalTV.

Rob further advises both lenders and borrowers on all sorts of financing transactions, including corporate (re)financings, acquisition, real estate and project finance, in regular as well as distressed situations.

Working at a New York City firm and as interim legal counsel at ABN AMRO, Rob broadened his horizon and experience.

Rob is a Fellow, INSOL International (honours, first in class), contributor to leading case law reviews, author of the Bankruptcy Act standard commentary, and a member of amongst others INSOL Europe, NACIIL and INSOLAD. Legal500 mentioned Rob as a Next Generation Lawyer (2017, 2018).

Jane Dietrich, INSOL Fellow, Cassels, Brock & Blackwell, Canada

Jane Dietrich* is a partner in the Restructuring & Insolvency Group at Cassels. The focus of Jane’s practice is on international and domestic commercial restructurings, insolvency, and related litigation. She has expertise in formal and informal corporate reorganizations, enforcement of security, and unsecured creditor remedies. A frequent writer and presenter on insolvency-related matters, Jane has participated as a speaker for numerous organizations including the Canadian Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Professionals, the Ontario Bar Association, the Law Society of Ontario, and the American Bankruptcy Institute. Jane also taught bankruptcy law at the University of Toronto, where she was an Adjunct Professor. Jane is a Fellow and lifetime member of INSOL International – the International Association of Restructuring, Insolvency & Bankruptcy Professionals. She also sits on the Board of Directors.

Angela Libby, Davis Polk, USA

Angela advises debtors, creditors, banks, hedge funds, lenders, asset purchasers and other strategic parties in a wide range of corporate restructuring matters. These include prepackaged and traditional bankruptcies, out-of-court workouts, debtor-in-possession and exit financing transactions, asset sales, bankruptcy litigation, cross-border insolvencies and liability management transactions.

Law360 named Angela a “Rising Star” in energy in 2021. Turnarounds & Workouts listed her among 2020’s “Outstanding Young Restructuring Lawyers,” and the American Bankruptcy Institute named her among the “40 Under 40 Emerging Leaders in Insolvency” in 2019. She was one of only three recipients nationwide of the 2019 IFLR “US Rising Star Award” and was featured in Global Restructuring Review’s inaugural “Women in Restructuring” report.

Jo Tay, INSOL Fellow, Allen & Gledhill, Singapore 

Jo specialises in cross-border restructuring and insolvency matters and structured finance transactions, and practises generally in the area of equity and trusts. She works in both the contentious and transactional spheres, and in matters that involve clients and counterparties from multiple jurisdictions. 

Jo has been extensively involved in advising financial institutions on the debt restructuring regimes in Singapore, in the context of complex financial transactions. She has been reviewed in IFLR1000 as “an excellent lawyer” who is “able to seamlessly provide advice”.

She is a Fellow of INSOL International, having obtained Honours in INSOL International’s Global Insolvency Practice Course (2018/2019). She is also a member of the International Insolvency Institute’s NextGen Leadership Programme, a Board Member of the International Women’s Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation (Singapore Network), and a member of the Turnaround Management Association of Singapore. 

Jo graduated with a Master of Laws (First Class) from the University of Cambridge with a specialisation in commercial law, and was awarded the Foundation Scholarship by Queen’s College, Cambridge for excellent performance in her graduate studies. Before that, she graduated from the Singapore Management University with the Kwa Geok Choo Top Law Student Award, having read a double degree programme in Law (LL.B.) and Business management (BBM, Finance) under the auspices of the Lee Kong Chian Scholars’ Programme. 

Sonya Van de Graaff, INSOL Fellow, Avonhurst, UK  

Sonya Van de Graaff is a partner at Avonhurst. Prior to joining, she was a partner at the London office of Morrison & Foerster for five years, advising individual and group investors on complex capital structures across a broad spectrum of cross-border and domestic restructuring and insolvency situations. Her expertise covers corporates, financial institutions and structured finance vehicles, with the additional specialism in advising replacement trustees, as well as boards of directors navigating financial distress.

Sonya has been involved in a number of market-leading transactions. She brings a collaborative and commercial approach to resolving disparate interests amongst divergent stakeholders.

In the years leading up to the 2008 financial crisis, Sonya was senior in-house counsel at Bear Stearns, London, focusing on a broad range of financial products including structured finance and special situations investments.

Sonya has a particular interest in the work of UNCITRAL, participating in their Working Group V negotiations to develop a uniform insolvency law for the adoption of cross-border insolvency legislation internationally. Sonya is also an INSOL International Fellow and a council member of the Council ofInsolvency Lawyers Association (UK), and active in its technical working group.