The Credit Crunch And Increasing Disputes

The casualties of the sub-prime crisis have thus far been confined to financial institutions and investor confidence is at an all time low despite unprecedented measures by central banks around the world injecting hefty funds to shore up financial institutions and large corporations except for Lehman Brothers. In recent weeks, the Hang Seng index had fallen to a level not seen since the SARS crisis and a malicious SMS was enough to spark a run by depositors on a major bank in Hong Kong.

Whilst the financial crisis has not brought about widespread corporate insolvencies at this stage, it has begun to manifest in an upsurge of disputes in Main Street businesses. Many recent cases that we encounter are a direct result of a worsening credit crunch that has precipitated failures in meeting contractual obligations. Here are some of contentious matters that we have come across and expect to see more of in the near horizon :-