‘These case summaries first appeared in LexisNexis’ Insolvency Case Alerter. They represent some of the more interesting insolvency decisions to have been published recently.’
Hardwicke Chambers, 4th March 2021
Source: hardwicke.co.uk
‘It is one of the ironies of Brexit that the UK has effectively implemented many of the features of the 2019 EU Restructuring Directive[1], providing for restructuring plans with cross-class cram down and moratoria, before all of the remaining EU member states (although the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 was avowedly not the implementation of EU law). The EU member states are required to implement the Restructuring Directive by 17 July 2021, although to date only Germany, the Netherlands and Greece have done so and many more are expected to seek an extension of the deadline to July 2022.’
Wilberforce Chambers, February 2021
Source: www.wilberforce.co.uk
‘The continuing impact of the Covid-19 pandemic is slowly but surely beginning to cast a shadow over personal injury claims. As the months have rolled on, viable businesses, starved of custom, are facing the prospect of being forced to cease trading. Those same businesses are the Defendants in many ongoing and pending claims. So, what happens when a Defendant becomes insolvent?’
St John's Chambers, February 2021
Source: stjohnsbuildings.com
‘A secured creditor’s appointment of an administrator was not void despite the fact it failed to notify its intention to make the appointment to another secured creditor whose security was in place first, the High Court has ruled.’
OUT-LAW.com, 8th February 2021
Source: www.pinsentmasons.com
‘The UK government has launched a legal bid to ban eight former Carillion directors from holding senior boardroom positions, almost three years on from the collapse of the outsourcing business.’
The Guardian, 13th January 2021
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘Businesses across the United Kingdom are facing treacherous times. The COVID-19 pandemic and its consequent restrictions have caused many businesses to suffer a pronounced drop in income, turnover and profits whilst still being liable to pay overhead costs such as rent to landlords. When businesses start to re-open, they will need to find a way to pay the overhead costs accrued during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as ongoing costs.’
3 Hare Court, 2nd November 2020
Source: www.3harecourt.com
‘By way of introduction to this topic it is worth recalling that by the time the Insolvency (England and Wales) Rules 2016 (“IR 2016”) came into force in April 2017 the Practice Direction on Insolvency Proceedings (“IPD”) had still not been updated to take account of the reforms introduced by IR 2016. Nor had it been updated to take account of the Electronic Working Pilot Scheme in CPR Practice Direction 51O (“EWPS”). In fact, there followed a significant period during which the IPD and IR 2016 were not compatible. The delay was at least in part caused by the reforms to the court system in England and Wales that resulted in the creation of the Business and Property Courts (“B&PC”). A new Practice Direction to govern the procedure in the B&PC came into effect in October 2017 and although subsequently supplemented by other changes, it was not until 25 April 2020 that a revised IPD, compatible with IR 2016, was finally released and even this was quickly superseded by a more definitively revised IPD on 4 July 2018. However, there were some significant anomalies with regard to the intermeshing of these various procedural rules and practice directions, not least in the area of out-of-court appointments of administrators.’
Hardwicke Chambers, 7th October 2020
Source: hardwicke.co.uk
‘The former owner of BHS has been convicted of evading tax on £2.2m of income he received from buying the failed high-street chain. Instead of paying the tax he knew he owed, Dominic Chappell, 53, spent a fortune on a luxury lifestyle that included a £90,000 yacht, a Bentley Continental car, a Bahamas holiday and some expensive Beretta guns, Southwark Crown Court heard.’
The Independent, 5th November 2020
Source: www.independent.co.uk
‘Where the contractor has become insolvent, what obligations can an employer enforce when stepping-in to a previously novated professional consultant’s appointment in a design and build scenario?’
Practical Law: Construction Blog, 3rd November 2020
‘Local authorities frequently have cause to seek recovery of sums owing from the estates of deceased persons, particularly (but not exclusively) in relation to care home fees owed by the deceased.’
The 36 Group, 26th October 2020
Source: 36group.co.uk
‘In this article Richard Bottomley gives an overview of what Company Voluntary Arrangements (“CVAs”) are, when they are used and the advantages and disadvantages to the company and creditors.’
3 Hare Court, October 2020
Source: www.3harecourt.com
‘The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (the scheme) has been ground breaking for employers, employees and administrators of insolvent companies, each of whom have swiftly adjusted to the practical and commercial effects of the scheme. The scheme very quickly gave rise to applications to the High Court, by administrators of high-profile companies, for directions as to whether a contract of employment of a “furloughed employee” had been “adopted” by an administrator. If it was, the “wages or salary” (which are defined by paragraph 99(6) of schedule B1 of the Insolvency Act 1986 (the Act) to include holiday pay and sick pay) would have super-priority over (a) the administrators’ remuneration and (b) a floating charge, under paragraph 99(3) and (4) of schedule B1 of the Act.’
Exchange Chambers, 13th October 2020
Source: www.exchangechambers.co.uk
‘Time flies when you are having fun, or so the saying goes. I think it flies whether you are having fun or not, although I’m sure we’ve all experienced those moments when it isn’t flying at all and it feels like it has stood still. As Pink Floyd famously sang, “Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day”. You may wonder why I am talking about time. Well, it’s because of the events leading up to Fraser J’s judgment in John Doyle Contractors Ltd v Erith Contractors Ltd. They are all to do with time.’
Practical Law: Construction Blog, 29th September 2020
‘Hot on the heels of the Supreme Court’s decision in Bresco Electrical Services Ltd v Michael J Lonsdale (Electrical) Ltd, in what may be the first summary judgment to enforce an adjudicator’s decision in favour of a party in administration, we have successfully represented the claimant in Styles and Wood Ltd (in administration) (S&W) v GE CIF Trustees Ltd.’
Practical Law: Construction Blog, 1st October 2020
‘In this case comment, David Bridge and Jessica Foley, both solicitor-advocates within the CMS litigation & arbitration team, comment on the decision handed down by the UK Supreme Court earlier this summer in the matter of Sevilleja v Marex Financial Ltd [2020] UKSC 31, which concerned whether the rule against reflective loss bars creditors of a company from claiming directly against a third party for asset-stripping the company.’
UKSC Blog, 4th September 2020
Source: ukscblog.com
‘Directors of clothing manufacturers in Leicester have been struck off for a combined total of more than 400 years in cases costing HMRC millions, data shared with the Guardian reveals.’
The Guardian, 3rd September 2020
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘The Appellants were the Joint Administrators of Debenhams Retail Ltd (“the Company”), which had entered into administration on 9 April 2020. This had followed decisions in late March to place some 14,000 of its employees on furlough under the Government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (“the Scheme”).’
Hardwicke Chambers, 11th August 2020
Source: hardwicke.co.uk
‘For over twenty years, section 233 of the Insolvency Act 1986 (“IA 1986”) has restricted the contractual freedom of parties, but only in the context of a narrow range of contracts for the supply of utilities such as gas, water and electricity when a company enters into a specified insolvency process. In 2015, further restrictions to the enforcement of insolvency related contract terms were introduced, though again only with regard to this narrow range of contracts. The new section 233B IA 1986, by contrast, is far broader in scope and puts a significant dent in the ability of parties to enforce and vary contractual terms. This article considers the implications of the new provision, which entered into force on 26 June 2020.’
Forum Chambers, 10th August 2020
Source: www.forumchambers.com
‘In a much-anticipated judgment, the Supreme Court in Sevilleja v Marex Financial Ltd unanimously allowed an appeal against a decision which, if it had been allowed to stand, would have denuded the intentional economic torts of much of their practical utility.’
Hardwicke Chambers, 28th July 2020
Source: hardwicke.co.uk
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