A restructuring plan may well be a very effective way of restructuring a foreign company. It has several advantages over a scheme of arrangement and with a relatively low entry threshold, the English court has already sanctioned at least one plan for a foreign company in the relatively short time that it has been available. … Continue Reading
Further to our previous blog outlining the new rules about payment and collection of unpaid commercial rent, our first alert looks at the new Code of Practice in detail. This answers questions relevant to both commercial landlords and tenants who have yet to start or are in the process of negotiating payment of rent arrears … Continue Reading
Supply chain issues are not new, but following the lifting of coronavirus restrictions in the UK and the hope that UK businesses will bounce back from a prolonged period of suppressed (or no) trading, they are having an acute impact on recovery. Disruption, delay and increased costs were compounded by the pandemic. But these issues … Continue Reading
In the context of the EU Directive 2019/1023/UE of 20 June 2019 (“Directive”) and in the aftermath of the Covid crisis, France has reformed its insolvency legislation. The purpose of the legislation is both to implement the requirements of the Directive into the French legislation, but also to tackle the consequences of the Covid crisis … Continue Reading
As has been widely reported, the recent energy price volatility (coupled with the price cap limiting suppliers’ ability to pass increased costs on to consumers) has caused a number of energy supply company failures. Yesterday saw the announcement of the collapse of Bulb, one of the UK’s largest energy suppliers, with it being due to … Continue Reading
On 12 May 2021, The Rating (Coronavirus) and Director Disqualification (Dissolved Companies) Bill was introduced to Parliament. The Bill passed through the Commons stages unaltered and recently passed the Committee stage at the House of Lords on 10 November 2021. The Report stage will be taking place on 1 December 2021.… Continue Reading
Landlords and tenants have both had their own struggles with paying or recovering rent during the COVID-19 pandemic. Rent arrears accrued during 2020 as sectors, such as retail and hospitality, remained closed for a large part of the year and in an effort to support businesses get back on their feet, landlords were prohibited from … Continue Reading
Throughout the pandemic we have seen a succession of temporary practice directions, enabling practitioners to deal with the swearing of notices of intention (NOI) and notices of appointment (NOA) of administrators remotely, as well as answering a question which the judiciary had grappled with several times – when does a notice of intention or notice … Continue Reading
In our earlier blog, we considered the application to strike out the challenge against the Caffè Nero company voluntary arrangement (“CVA”) (Nero Holdings Ltd v Young) and the rejection of Caffè Nero’s strike-out action by the Court. In particular, the Nero case focuses on electronic voting (which is increasingly popular in the current climate) and … Continue Reading
Further to our blog last week regarding the restrictions on presentation of winding-up petitions being (partially) lifted, the draft legislation replacing the existing restrictions has now been published and is due to come into force on 29 September 2021. Following the end of the current restrictions on 30 September 2021 (please see our previous blogs … Continue Reading
The UK Government has today indicated what will happen at the end of the month, when the temporary restrictions on winding up petitions are due to lift.… Continue Reading
Opening the door for the SME market, Sir Alistair Norris has sanctioned the first ever restructuring plan for a “mid-market” company. The plan sanctioned in Amicus Finance PLC (in administration) is also the first restructuring plan proposed by insolvency practitioners and the first to cram down a secured creditor. The sanction judgment is short, but … Continue Reading
The recent case of Re A Company [2021] EWHC 2289 (Ch) outlines how the coronavirus test for winding up petitions will be applied by the Courts. Taking a similar approach, to the cases of Newman v Templar Corp Ltd [2020] EWHC 3740 (Ch) and Re PGH Investments Ltd v Ewing [2021] EWHC 533 (Ch), both … Continue Reading
For some time, the government has been considering how best to manage the billions of estimated rent arrears in order to avoid a flurry of winding-up petitions and evictions. This requires a careful balance to protect both landlords and businesses in need, which proposed legislation to ringfence certain rent debt seeks to do. In their … Continue Reading
CVAs are a useful tool in the restructuring tool kit, and may prove extremely helpful to retailers or hospitality companies as a means of supporting those businesses as they emerge from the pandemic. However, with landlords often being the primary creditor who’s claims are compromised under the CVA proposal, this has also led to an … Continue Reading
Following the UK business secretary offering assurance that HMRC will take a ‘cautious approach’ to recovering tax debts (see our previous blog), HMRC has now published guidance outlining its approach. This guidance also explains how HMRC might respond where a business has taken advantage of one of the government backed lending schemes (such as a … Continue Reading
Freedom day (or the 19th of July) is almost upon us, and therefore light at the end of what has been a very long tunnel for UK businesses who will once again be able to operate free of restrictions and lockdown measures. However there is still an element of uncertainty about what the future holds … Continue Reading
In this third alert, we consider the findings in the New Look and Regis CVA challenge cases from the point of view of valuing landlord claims, counting the votes of unimpaired creditors and disclosure. Both of these challenges cases alleged that there has been non-disclosure, and therefore a material irregularity, and challenged the way that the landlords’ claims … Continue Reading
In our second alert in the series we consider the key takeaways for UK insolvency practitioners following the CVA challenges in New Look and Regis. Our alert considers the following: Nominee’s duties Risks to fees Disclosure requirements Discounts and formulas for calculating landlord claims for voting purposes; and The shape of post-pandemic CVAs To read … Continue Reading
Following the pivotal decisions in the New Look and Regis CVA challenge cases, where do the findings in those cases leave retailers, landlords and insolvency practitioners? In a series of alerts we will consider the key takeaways for landlords, the position of retailers and the impact of the findings for insolvency practitioners. Albeit that the … Continue Reading
Last year, the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 made a number of changes to the UK insolvency landscape. Amongst the changes, was the addition of the “ipso facto” regime, which prevents suppliers terminating supply contracts as a result of insolvency-related events. Up until 30 June 2021, “small suppliers” were exempt from the regime. However, … Continue Reading
From 1 March 2020 until 30 June 2021, the rules on wrongful trading were suspended – albeit there was a short period between 1 October 2020 and 25 November 2020 where they did apply. The temporary suspension has now lapsed, meaning that the courts will no longer assume that a director was not responsible for … Continue Reading
We highlighted in our previous blog, the pivotal role that HMRC could play in ensuring the survival of UK businesses when all COVID restrictions are lifted and the government’s various temporary support measures come to an end. The Business Secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng, has now assured business that HMRC will take a “cautious approach” to recovering … Continue Reading
There is a faint light at the end of the COVID tunnel for commercial landlords regarding timings and the ability to recover unpaid rent arrears. The UK Government has announced an extension to the current prohibition on forfeiture and winding up petitions, to enable it to introduce new legislation to help manage the £6bn estimated … Continue Reading
