David Steinberg

David advises lenders, creditors, insurers, and acquirers on a wide range of administration matters, including schemes of arrangement, distressed acquisitions, and claims arising from insolvency proceedings.

• Advised the administrators of a UK insurer on implementing a scheme of arrangement with its insurance creditors.
• Advised the administrators of a peer-to-peer lending platform on collecting in a portfolio of secured property development loans, including security enforcement and distressed property asset sales, and on dealing with the claims of the investors who participated in loans originated via the platform.
• Advised on the acquisition of an aviation services business from an insolvent seller through a pre-packaged administration sale.

David advises lenders, borrowers, and creditor groups on complex refinancing and restructuring transactions, including debt restructurings, security arrangements, intercreditor agreements, and debt-for-equity swaps.

• Advised a secured lender to an international pharmaceuticals group on the restructuring of the lender’s facilities, including new security arrangements, intercreditor agreements, and the subordination of the unsustainable portion of the loans under the facilities.
• Advised a sub-Saharan African borrower on the restructuring of its numerous bilateral financing agreements, including debt write-offs, debt-for-equity swaps, and new shared security arrangements.
• Advised a club of five banks on the restructuring of their debt facilities with a Sierra Leone-based iron ore mining business.

David advises companies, creditors, landlords, and other stakeholders on Company Voluntary Arrangements, helping clients navigate complex restructuring situations and negotiate pragmatic commercial outcomes. He has experience acting both in support of and in opposition to CVA proposals across a range of sectors, including financial services and retail.

• Advised a UK financial services business on compromising its mis-selling liabilities to customers via a CVA.
• Advised an Austrian creditor of the Steinhoff group in opposing Steinhoff’s CVA proposal through the statutory court challenge procedure. This resulted in a consensual settlement.
• Advised Pizza Hut UK on its CVA with its landlords.

David advises lenders, borrowers, and financial institutions on consensual debt restructurings, helping parties navigate financial pressure through negotiated amendments, rescheduling arrangements, and refinancing solutions. He has extensive experience advising on cross-border restructurings across a range of sectors, including manufacturing, hospitality, energy, and infrastructure.

• Advised a syndicate of international lenders in rescheduling their loans to a Bangladeshi fertiliser manufacturer.
• Advised a UK bank on restructuring its banking facilities to a Sierra Leone hotel business.
• Advised a quasi-sovereign lender in rescheduling its loan guarantee facility to a Nepalese hydro-electricity developer.

David advises lenders, creditors, and other stakeholders on protecting and enforcing their rights in distressed and insolvency situations. He has particular experience advising on security enforcement, debt recovery strategies, cross-border insolvencies, and creditor-led actions to maximise recoveries and preserve value.

• Advising a syndicate of lenders to a Russian-owned aviation leasing company on their security and enforcement rights.
• Advising a quasi-sovereign lender to a South Asian manufacturing group headquartered in Singapore on its enforcement rights under its security package and on its insolvency options.
• Advising a UK individual in pursuing High Court debt recovery action against a Guernsey-registered company and subsequently obtaining and then enforcing a charging order over a farm in Sussex owned by the defendant.

David advises directors, business owners, and senior management teams on their duties in financially distressed situations, helping them navigate insolvency risks, regulatory investigations, and potential personal liability.

• Advising directors of troubled companies on their duties and on statutory remedies available to an insolvency officeholder to pursue directors.
• Advised the directors of an insolvent steel manufacturing business on dealing with investigations into their conduct launched by the Official Receiver, including the risk of disqualification.
• Advised a business owner on dealing with the ‘phoenix’ provisions of UK insolvency legislation when establishing a new business.

David advises landlords, tenants, and businesses on the insolvency-related aspects of commercial leases, including CVAs, forfeiture rights, lease restructurings, and rent compromise arrangements. He helps clients manage risk and protect their commercial position when financial distress impacts landlord and tenant relationships.

• Advised a casual dining chain on the implications of compromising landlords’ rights under leases through a CVA.
• Advised a commercial landlord on its right to terminate a lease and exercise re-entry rights in the event of different insolvency proceedings affecting its tenant.
• Advised a troubled luxury goods business on negotiating a compromise of overdue rental liabilities and exiting onerous lease terms with the landlord of its prime West End site.

David advises liquidators, directors, creditors, and other stakeholders on a wide range of issues arising in liquidations, including asset realisation, proprietary claims, settlements, and investigations. He has particular experience navigating complex disputes and court applications to maximise recoveries and achieve practical outcomes in insolvency processes.

• Advised the liquidator of a UK insurance broking business on implementing a settlement with beneficiaries of an alleged trust fund held by the company in liquidation.
• Advised liquidators on an application to court for an order permitting the sale of freehold land free from the proprietary rights of investors.
• Advising directors of subsidiaries on responding to demands for information and documentation from liquidators appointed to the parent company of a corporate group.

David advises lenders, creditors, receivers, and financial institutions on a broad range of receivership matters, including enforcement strategies, distressed asset sales, and creditor recoveries. He has significant experience acting in complex domestic and cross-border situations involving secured lending structures, business disposals, and real estate assets.

• Advised a UK investment bank in devising and documenting exit options for creditors of structured investment vehicles (SIVs) that were in receivership.
• Advised a club of five lenders and their appointed receivers on a pre-packaged sale by the receivers of an iron ore mining business in Sierra Leone to a mining entrepreneur, including the migration of the lenders’ secured indebtedness to the purchaser vehicle.
• Advised receivers appointed by an insolvent lending platform over university development sites in North West England on the marketing and sale of the part-developed sites to purchasers.

David advises insurers, directors, and corporate stakeholders on a range of D&O insurance matters, particularly where insolvency, restructuring, and run-off scenarios create complex coverage and policyholder issues. He has experience advising on policy amendments, schemes of arrangement, and insolvency-related insurance solutions.

• Advised directors of a troubled LSE-listed company on amending its D&O insurance policy to include an insolvency run-off period and to address other hitherto unforeseen insolvency-related risks.
• Advised a troubled insurer on implementing a scheme of arrangement with holders of D&O insurance policies.
• Advising a creditor of a distressed company on how to access recoveries from the company directors’ D&O covers.

David advises insurers, policyholders, and businesses on complex employer’s liability insurance matters, particularly in the context of insurer distress, run-off, and insolvency. He has significant experience helping clients navigate policyholder protection arrangements, FSCS issues, and continuity of cover where insurance providers face financial difficulties.

• Advised a troubled insurance company on implementing a standalone alternative insurance cover arrangement for holders of its employers’ liability policies in the context of a scheme of arrangement affecting the remainder of its business.
• Advised a troubled insurance company on providing continuity of insurance cover, alongside the FSCS, for its employers’ liability policyholders.
• Advised a UK manufacturing business on managing liabilities to employees for industrial injury claims following the collapse of its employers’ liability insurer, including accessing FSCS protection.

David advises life insurers, insurance industry bodies, and financial institutions on complex restructuring, regulatory, and capital adequacy matters.

• Advising the UK’s largest insurance industry trade association on the implications for its members of the possible insolvency of Equitable Life.
• Advising a troubled Scottish life insurer on potential exit solutions for its life portfolio in run-off.
• Advising a UK composite insurer on the design of a subordinated debt instrument that satisfied the PRA’s Tier 1 loss-absorption criteria while preserving the instrument’s legal status as  debt rather than equity.

David advises insurers, reinsurers, brokers, and financial institutions on complex reinsurance and insurance market matters, including schemes of arrangement, run-off portfolios, reinsurance recoveries, and cross-border risk transfer arrangements.

• Advised a London Market insurer on implementing a scheme of arrangement that compromised reinsurance creditors’ claims whilst leaving direct insurance creditors unimpaired.
• Advised the Russian subsidiary of a German industrial group on implementing a ‘cut-through’ arrangement that provided a security assignment of its Russian domestic insurer’s rights against its reinsurer.
• Advised a UK investment firm on the purchase of impaired reinsurance receivables from London Market insurers winding up their estates.

David advises insurers, investors, and policyholders on restructuring and insolvency issues as they impact the insurance sector, with a particular focus on the run-off sector.

• Advised the administrators of a UK insurer on implementing a scheme of arrangement with its insurance creditors.

• Advised the liquidator of a UK insurance broking business on implementing a settlement with beneficiaries of an alleged trust fund held by the company in liquidation.
• Advised directors of a troubled LSE-listed company on amending its D&O insurance policy to include an insolvency run-off period and to address other hitherto unforeseen insolvency-related risks.
• Advised a troubled insurance company on implementing a standalone alternative insurance cover arrangement for holders of its employers’ liability policies in the context of a scheme of arrangement affecting the remainder of its business.

• Advised a UK investment firm on acquiring ownership of an insurer in run-off, including dealing with the ‘change of controller’ application to the responsible regulator.

Member of the International Bar Association and former officer of the Insolvency section of the IBA.