The Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 (the “Act”) came into force on 26th June 2020. Alongside the Act, a new Insolvency Practice Direction (“IPD”) came into force and provides additional information in respect of winding petitions and the “coronavirus test”. This blog will look at a few of the key changes contained in the … Continue Reading
As the government slowly ‘unlocks’ the British economy, and activity adapts to the new normal alongside coronavirus, the hope must be that latent consumer demand triggers a rapid, equally dramatic, recovery in GDP and jobs, allowing businesses to boost cash-flow and repay debt. An economic recovery of this nature (the sharper the point of the … Continue Reading
Following our webinar discussing the impact of the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 for corporates, we have prepared a question and answer sheet addressing questions raised including: Does ipso facto apply to just UK contracts? Can a supplier still exercise set off rights if its customer enters into a moratorium? What should a supplier … Continue Reading
On 25 June 2020 the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act received Royal Assent, making some of the biggest changes to UK insolvency laws in the last 30 years. We have written several blogs covering the changes and how they help support distressed businesses, impact suppliers, lenders and other third parties and have tracked the changes … Continue Reading
The Corporate Insolvency and Governance Bill (the “Bill”) was published on 20 May 2020 and introduced a new debtor-in-possession moratorium to give companies breathing space in order to try to rescue the company as a going concern. The Bill went through the House of Commons on 3 June and passed through the House of Lords … Continue Reading
On Friday, 19 June 2020, the UK government announced that it would be extending existing measures to protect tenants from eviction over summer. In summary, the new measures include: Extending the moratorium on forfeiture from 30 June 2020 to 30 September 2020 Preventing landlords from exercising Commercial Rent Arrears Recovery (“CRAR”) unless they are owed … Continue Reading
This week the House of Lords debated tabled amendments to the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Bill and the provisions will be examined by the Lords again next week. There was plenty of debate about whether the proposed new processes protect the interests of third parties such as employees, banks and pension creditors but largely, the … Continue Reading
The UK Government has issued new guidance on changes to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) from 1 July 2020. This should allow employers to plan their strategy in relation to staff for the coming months with a little more certainty. Under these new arrangements, employers will be able to bring furloughed staff back to … Continue Reading
The UK Government have announced the implementation of the Trade Credit Reinsurance Scheme (TCRS), which will provide guarantees of up to £10 billion to Trade Credit Insurers in respect of business-to-business transactions. Trade Credit Insurance in the UK underwrites an estimated £350 billion of trading for more than 630,000 businesses each year. It insures suppliers … Continue Reading
As set out in the first blog in this series, the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Bill (the “Bill”) introduces a new debtor-in-possession moratorium to give companies breathing space in order to try to rescue the company as a going concern. The first blog outlined how the moratorium will work and the second blog focused on … Continue Reading
What is it? A new form of restructuring plan (RP) which can be entered into with all creditors. It is found within the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Bill (Bill) and assuming it is enacted in its current form, it will sit next to schemes or arrangements in the Companies Act 2006 (rather than the Insolvency … Continue Reading
As set out in the first blog in this series, the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Bill (the “Bill”) introduces a new debtor-in-possession moratorium to give companies breathing space in order to try to rescue the company as a going concern. The first blog outlined how the moratorium will work. This blog will focus on the … Continue Reading
The ability of suppliers to terminate contracts when a customer becomes insolvent is to be curtailed by the Government under plans published in the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Bill (the “Bill”). The Bill contains a suite of measures designed to help businesses both during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, several of which have been under … Continue Reading
On 20 May 2020, the UK Government introduced the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Bill (the “Bill”) to the House of Commons. The Bill introduces a new debtor-in-possession moratorium to give companies breathing space in order to try to rescue the company as a going concern. The Bill is currently only in draft form and therefore … Continue Reading
On 10 May 2020, Prime Minister Boris Johnson informed businesses in England that, as part of the Government’s three-phase strategy for lifting the Coronavirus lockdown, employees that cannot work from home can, and should return to work from Wednesday 13 May 2020. This note from our Data Privacy and Cybersecurity team aims to provide practical … Continue Reading
Following the UK government publishing the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Bill which sets out temporary changes to the UK Insolvency laws on wrongful trading (see here for further discussion) we have updated our guide on directors’ duties.… Continue Reading
The UK government has released its recovery strategy dealing with how the UK might move from lockdown to the “ new normal” enabling some businesses to re-open. The ability to begin rejuvenating businesses that have been mothballed for the past couple of months is good news but corporates should proceed with caution as they take … Continue Reading
On 20 May 2020, the UK Government introduced the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Bill (the “Bill”) to the House of Commons. The aim of the Bill was temporarily to amend corporate insolvency laws to give companies the best possible chance of weathering the storm of the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the significant measures can be … Continue Reading
The highly anticipated Corporate Insolvency and Governance Bill (the “Bill”) was introduced to the House of Commons yesterday on 20 May 2020. Its aims appear to be simple: safeguard companies and maximise their chances of survival thereby preserving jobs. Alongside many key measures, the Bill includes temporary provisions to restrict the use of statutory demands … Continue Reading
The UK Government published the Corporate Governance and Insolvency Bill on 20 May 2020. The legislation will be fast tracked and include both temporary and permanent changes to the UK insolvency legislation. The temporary measures, aimed at supporting businesses struggling with cash flow and facing distress due to COVID-19, include prohibitions on presentation of winding … Continue Reading
Our new on line “Unlocking the Lockdown” tool looks at the next steps that may need to be considered by businesses across the UK as the country slowly navigates out of lockdown. As of 18 May 2020, our team has communicated with over 200 businesses to see what their next steps are and have concluded … Continue Reading
Following changes announced to the CLBILS and CCFF please see our updated UK government financial support guide. Perhaps most notably borrowers under CLBILS will be able to borrow up to 25% of turnover (up to a maximum of £200 million). The changes help ensure large firms which do not qualify for the CCFF have enough … Continue Reading
The Insolvency Service has released statistics on the level of insolvencies in April 2020. This allows us to take a look at the immediate effect of insolvencies post-lockdown compared with those before.… Continue Reading
On Tuesday, the Government announced new statistics showing that as at 10 May over £14 billion in loans and guarantees have been approved across the new Bounce Back Loan scheme, the Coronavirus Business Interruption Scheme (CBILS) and the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CLBILS). This significant amount of Government support to British business, revealed … Continue Reading
