Category: insolvency

Corporate failure and its implications for professionals advising before insolvency – 11 Stone Buildings

Posted December 12th, 2013 in accountants, insolvency, negligence, news, professional conduct, solicitors by sally

‘Professional negligence cases frequently deal with claims that arise after an insolvency occurs. During a recent 11 SB insolvency seminar, Lexa Hilliard QC focused on problems that can arise for accountants and solicitors prior to a company entering into a formal insolvency process. This is an area that has attracted little attention but it can be full of pitfalls that we professionals ignore at our peril. In
this ‘Insider’ she summarises herthoughts on what is becoming a very topical issue.’

Full story

11 Stone Buildings, December 2013

Source: www.11sb.com

Gomes Viana Novo and others v Fundo de Garantia Salarial IP (Wage Guarantee Fund) – WLR Daily

Posted December 4th, 2013 in EC law, employment, enforcement, insolvency, law reports, remuneration by sally

Gomes Viana Novo and others v Fundo de Garantia Salarial IP (Wage Guarantee Fund) (Case C‑309/12); [2013] WLR (D) 465

‘Council Directive 80/987/EEC of 20 October 1980 relating to the protection of employees in the event of the insolvency of their employer (as amended by Parliament and Council Directive 2002/74/EC of 23 September 2002) did not preclude national legislation which did not guarantee wage claims falling due more than six months before the commencement of an action seeking a declaration that the employer was insolvent, even where the workers initiated, prior to the start of that period, legal proceedings against their employer with a view to obtaining a determination of the amount of those claims and an enforcement order to recover those sums.’

WLR Daily, 28th November 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Court of Appeal clarifies “lawsuits pending” in Art 32 of EC Directive 2001/24 on Reorganisation and Winding Up of Credit Institutions – 11 Stone Buildings

Posted December 3rd, 2013 in appeals, EC law, foreign jurisdictions, insolvency, news, winding up by sally

‘In a judgment handed down today (Isis Investments Ltd v Kaupthing Bank h.f. & Elfar Adalsteinsson [2013] EWCA Civ 1493), the Court of Appeal has clarified the meaning and scope of “lawsuits pending” in Article 32 of the EC Directive on the Reorganisation and Winding Up of Credit Institutions (Directive 2001/24/EC). Charles Samek QC who acted for the successful respondent, Mr Adalsteinsson (acting as a representative party on behalf of high net-worth investors) explains the significance of the judgment.’

Full story

11 Stone Buildings, 27th November 2013

Source: www.11sb.com

Anti-suit injunctions, arbitrations and cross-border insolvency – 11 Stone Buildings

Posted November 19th, 2013 in arbitration, foreign companies, foreign jurisdictions, injunctions, insolvency, news by sally

“Ironically, the recent developments in international law which have encouraged the recognition of foreign insolvency proceedings and assistance in relation to them have in many cases led to disharmony between our domestic law and the law of the foreign proceedings. The applicable principles on when it is appropriate to grant anti-suit injunctions to protect the right of a party not to be sued in a foreign state have not been worked out fully in relation to insolvency. This is nowhere more apparent than where a foreign debtor enters a foreign insolvency process and prior to the insolvency was party to an agreement containing an English arbitration clause.”

Full story

11 Stone Buildings, November 2013

Source: www.11sb.com

Smith-Evans v Smailes – WLR Daily

Posted November 8th, 2013 in bankruptcy, individual voluntary arrangements, insolvency, law reports by tracey

Smith-Evans v Smailes: [2013] EWHC 3199 (Ch);   [2013] WLR (D)  423

“Where the chairman of a creditors’ meeting summoned under section 257 of the Insolvency Act 1986 had reported the meeting’s approval of a proposed voluntary arrangement to the court, the only route of challenge was under section 262 of the 1986 Act. That was so even if the meeting itself had not approved the arrangement, because the chairman had exceeded the terms of proxies that he held so there had in fact not been a 75% majority in favour of approval.”

WLR Daily, 29th July 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Closegate Hotel Development (Durham) Ltd and another v McLean and others – WLR Daily

Posted October 30th, 2013 in administrators, insolvency, law reports by sally

Closegate Hotel Development (Durham) Ltd and another v McLean and others [2013] EWHC 3237 (Ch); [2013] WLR (D) 409

“The prohibition on an officer of a company in administration exercising a management power absent the consent of the administrators contained in paragraph 64 of Schedule B1 to the Insolvency Act 1986, as inserted, did not deprive the directors of a company of the authority to cause the company to challenge the validity of the appointment of the administrators, nor was the exercise of such authority dependent upon the provision by the directors of an indemnity for costs.”

WLR Daily, 25th October 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Breaking news for astrophysicists: Black holes can collapse – Hardwicke Chambers

Posted September 25th, 2013 in costs, debts, insolvency, landlord & tenant, news, pensions, Supreme Court by sally

“OK, so the title perhaps implies that what follows is more interesting than it is. However, the most recent decision of the Supreme Court in the Nortel/Lehman litigation is of considerable importance for all of us, particularly in the current economic climate.”

Full story

Hardwicke Chambers, 23rd September 2013

Source: www.hardwicke.co.uk

Van Buggenhout and another v Banque Internationale à Luxembourg SA – WLR Daily

Posted September 23rd, 2013 in debts, EC law, foreign companies, foreign jurisdictions, insolvency, law reports by sally

Van Buggenhout and another v Banque Internationale à Luxembourg SA (Case C-251/12); [2013] WLR (D) 353

“A payment made at the behest of debtor subject to insolvency proceedings to one of the latter’s creditors did not fall within the scope of article 24(1) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1346/2000 of 29 May 2000 on insolvency proceedings. That provision enabled a person who honoured an obligation ‘for the benefit of’ a debtor, who was subject to insolvency proceedings opened in another member state , when it should have been honoured for the benefit of the liquidator, to be deemed to have discharged it if he was unaware of the opening of proceedings.”

WLR Daily, 19th September 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

In re MF Global UK Ltd (No 4) (in special administration); Heis and others v Attestor Value Master Fund LP and another – WLR Daily

Posted September 2nd, 2013 in administrators, breach of trust, contracts, insolvency, law reports by sally

In re MF Global UK Ltd (No 4) (in special administration); Heis and others v Attestor Value Master Fund LP and another [2013] EWHC 2556 (Ch); [2013] WLR (D) 339

“For the purposes of the client money rules and the client money distribution rules contained in the Client Assets Sourcebook, CASS 7 and 7A a client’s contractual claim and the amount for which it might prove in respect of such claim fell to be reduced by the amount of any actual or anticipated distribution from the client money pool. The client could not prove for both a claim resulting from a shortfall in the client money trust and the balance of its contractual claim where the shortfall claim did not exceed the contractual claim. However, the rule against double proof did not prevent a claim by a client in respect of a shortfall in payment of its client money entitlement to the extent that it exceeded its contractual claim or in a case where the client had no contractual claim.”

WLR Daily, 16th August 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Separate extensions to software licensing deal transferred in liquidation deemed valid and invalid by High Court – OUT-LAW.com

Posted August 20th, 2013 in computer programs, contracts, insolvency, licensing, news, time limits by tracey

“A software licensing arrangement transferred as a result of a voluntary liquidation continued to apply for six months beyond the end of the initial contract period but an additional longer extension to that contract could not be implied, the High Court has ruled.”

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 20th August 2013

Source: www.out-law.com

In re Southern Pacific Personal Loans Ltd; Oakley Smith and another v Information Commissioner – WLR Daily

Posted August 14th, 2013 in data protection, insolvency, law reports, loans, statutory interpretation by sally

In re Southern Pacific Personal Loans Ltd; Oakley Smith and another v Information Commissioner [2013] EWHC 2485 (Ch); [2013] WLR (D) 336

“Joint liquidators of a company were not data controllers within the meaning of section 1(1) of the Data Protection Act 1998 in respect of data processed by the company prior to its liquidation.”

WLR Daily, 8th August 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Bilta (UK) Ltd (in liquidation) and others v Nazir and others (No 2) – WLR Daily

Posted August 6th, 2013 in appeals, extraterritoriality, fraudulent trading, insolvency, law reports, news, winding up by sally

Bilta (UK) Ltd (in liquidation) and others v Nazir and others (No 2) [2013] EWCA Civ 968; [2013] WLR (D) 333

“The knowledge of a fraud perpetrated by a director by means of a company was not to be attributed to that company when it sought to recover losses which the company itself had suffered as a result of the fraud, even where the director was the sole director and shareholder of the company. In those circumstances the director could not rely on the maxim ex turpi causa non oritur actio to defeat the claim.”

WLR Daily, 31st July 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

High Court ruling establishes certainty for members of underfunded pension schemes on company insolvency, says expert – OUT-LAW.com

Posted August 5th, 2013 in administrators, debts, insolvency, news, pensions by sally

“It would be ‘unprincipled’ to allow administrators of an insolvent company to use money ring-fenced for the purposes of its underfunded pension scheme to settle their debt to the scheme’s trustees, the High Court has ruled.”

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 2nd August 2013

Source: www.out-law.com

Nortel / Lehman Supreme Court decision: guidance on insolvency expenses and provable claims – 11 Stone Buildings

Posted July 31st, 2013 in administrators, debts, expenses, insolvency, news, pensions by sally

“The Supreme Court ruled today that sums claimed under a Financial Support Direction of the Pensions
Regulator that is issued after a company’s entry to insolvency will rank as provable debts. It disagreed with both the High Court and a unanimous Court of Appeal, which had held that sums claimed under such a FSD were payable as insolvency expenses. The Supreme Court also rejected an argument that such a claim ranked below ordinary creditors as a non-provable liability.”

Full story (PDF)

11 Stone Buildings, 24th July 2013

Source: www.11sb.com

In the matter of the Nortel Companies; In the matter of the Lehman Companies; In the matter of the Lehman Companies No 2 – Supreme Court

Posted July 29th, 2013 in administrators, contribution, debts, expenses, insolvency, law reports, pensions by sally

In the matter of the Nortel Companies; In the matter of the Lehman Companies; In the matter of the Lehman Companies No 2 [2013] UKSC 52 (YouTube)

Supreme Court, 24th July 2013

Source: www.youtube.com/user/UKSupremeCourt

In re Portsmouth City Football Club Ltd (in liquidation); Neumans LLP (a firm) v Andronikou and others – WLR Daily

Posted July 25th, 2013 in appeals, expenses, fees, insolvency, law firms, law reports, sport by tracey

In re Portsmouth City Football Club Ltd (in liquidation); Neumans LLP (a firm) v Andronikou and others: [2013] EWCA Civ 916; [2013] WLR (D) 301

“Where solicitors had acted for a company in connection with its opposition to a winding up petition but had ceased to act for the company by the time the company went into out of court administration, the court had no power under the Insolvency Rules 1986 or under the inherent jurisdiction of the court to direct that fees which the company owed to the solicitors were an expense of the administration.”

WLR Daily, 24th July 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

In re Nortel GmbH (in administration) and related companies; In re Lehman Brothers International (Europe) (in administration) and related companies (Nos 1 and 2) – WLR Daily

Posted July 25th, 2013 in expenses, insolvency, law reports, pensions by tracey

In re Nortel GmbH (in administration) and related companies; In re Lehman Brothers International (Europe) (in administration) and related companies (Nos 1 and 2): [2013] UKSC 52; [2013] WLR (D) 300

“A company’s liabilities arising from financial support directions or contribution notices issued by the Pensions Regulator under the Pensions Act 2004 after the company had gone into administration, which required the company to put in place financial support for an occupational pension scheme, did not rank as an expense of the administration under rule 2.67(1)(f) of the Insolvency Rules 1986. However, where by the date on which the company went into administration it had for the preceding two years been vulnerable to a liability under a pension scheme, that liability was an obligation which ranked in the administration as a provable debt of the company.”

WLR Daily, 24th July 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Nortel decision restores claims by the Pensions Regulator to position envisaged by Parliament, expert says – OUT-LAW.com

Posted July 25th, 2013 in debts, insolvency, news, pensions by tracey

“Claims by the Pensions Regulator in relation to an insolvent company’s pension scheme rank as provable debts alongside the claims of other unsecured creditors, the UK’s highest court has ruled.24 Jul 2013.”

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 24th July 2013

Source: www.out-law.com

Supreme Court to rule on pension scheme insolvency ranking next week – OUT-LAW.com

Posted July 23rd, 2013 in insolvency, news, pensions, Supreme Court by tracey

“The UK’s highest court will rule on whether an insolvent company’s pension schemes can take priority over other company debts on Wednesday, according to its website.”

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 19th July 2013

Source: www.out-law.com

Courts could force directors to compensate creditors, under Government plans – OUT-LAW.com

Posted July 16th, 2013 in company directors, compensation, consultations, disqualification, insolvency, news by sally

“Courts could be given the power to order disqualified company directors to compensate creditors who have lost money as a result of their actions, under plans being considered by the Government.”

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 16th July 2013

Source: www.out-law.com