An out-of-hours office appointment of an administrator, although not unusual, is not a regular occurrence in the world of insolvency. It is however, exactly what happened at 4am on Monday 2 October, as Britain’s longest surviving airline brand ‘Monarch’ entered administration. The collapse of the airline comes as a result of mounting cost pressures in … Continue Reading
Although figures revealed last year indicated that the number of pub closures had fallen, more recent data suggests that the restaurant sector is now at greater risk of insolvency due to Brexit. This is due to rising costs which has resulted in the stagnation of disposable income (accountants Moore Stephens, for example, warned of this … Continue Reading
Paul Muscutt and Cathryn Williams, of the Squire Patton Boggs Restructuring & Insolvency team in London, analyse the current restructuring market with Blair Nimmo, UK Head of Restructuring, KPMG.… Continue Reading
The recent Court of Appeal case of JCAM Commercial Real Estate Property XV Limited v. Davis Haulage Limited [2017] EWCA Civ 267 has set out the importance of there being a settled intention to enter administration and indicated that this is a pre-requisite to an out of court appointment being validly made. The judge at first … Continue Reading
On 6 April 2017, the new Insolvency Rules come into force which will affect creditors’ rights in most insolvency procedures. The changes are designed to ensure insolvency processes are as efficient and streamlined as possible in order to maximise returns to creditors by reducing costs whilst retaining safeguards to avoid abuse or injustice. Whether you are … Continue Reading
The recent Chancery Division judgment in Re Gracio Property Company Limited [2017] B.C.C 15 (“Gracio”) saw the court make an order for a compulsory liquidation without any winding-up petition having been issued.… Continue Reading
The recent case of Thomas & another v Frogmore Real Estate Partners & others [2017] EWHC 25 (Ch) provides useful guidance for anyone analyzing the centre of main interests (“COMI”) of a company not registered in the UK or other EEA state for the purposes of assessing whether or not insolvency proceedings relating to the … Continue Reading
The decorations are down, the last of the Quality Street has been consumed and the New Year’s resolutions are a distant (and perhaps failed) memory…….suddenly the dreary weather leads to thoughts of sunshine and distant shores. Travel companies have dubbed the first Saturday in January ‘Sunshine Saturday’ as many holidaymakers plot their escape during the … Continue Reading
An employment tribunal has recently confirmed that employees who have been unfairly dismissed from an insolvent employer can bring an action against a connected successor company. The tribunal held that there was a ‘commonality of ownership’ between the original and successor companies and that it was correct as a matter of public policy that employees should be able … Continue Reading
In the recent case of Gillan v HEC Enterprises Ltd (in administration) and Ors [2016] EWHC 3179 (Ch), the High Court considered (1) in what circumstances administrators can recover costs and expenses incurred in dealing with trust property and (2) how the administrators’ costs in applying for a Berkeley Applegate order and other litigation were to be dealt with.… Continue Reading
The Housing and Planning Act 2016 (the “Act”) introduces special administration procedures for social housing associations which aim to protect the level of social housing in the UK. The new housing administration orders (“HAOs”) create an additional objective for insolvency practitioners to try to keep social housing in the regulated housing sector to maintain levels of … Continue Reading
In the case of Re BW Estates Ltd the High Court considered the validity of a directors’ out of court appointment in circumstances where there was technically an inquorate directors’ board meeting. It was held that the appointment was not invalid despite only one director being present at the meeting convened to put the company into administration in … Continue Reading
Since its inception in 2005, the PPF has been a welcome safety net for employees whose company pension scheme is in deficit and the sponsoring employer is on the verge of insolvency. The PPF’s major challenge has been preventing employers from deliberately engineering or recklessly creating such deficits in the pension scheme (to the benefit … Continue Reading
When we review security for financiers, we always consider what enhancements they might implement to strengthen their security net. As part of this approach, we obtain a proprietor search from the Land Registry to see if there is any uncharged property in the name of the borrower. Often, any property identified is a short to … Continue Reading
The High Court has recently demonstrated its right to exercise discretion as to whether an administration order should be made in relation to a company. In Rowntree Ventures v Oak Property Partners Limited, even though the companies were unable to pay their debts and where the statutory purpose of administration was likely to be achieved, … Continue Reading
Until recently the oil and gas sector has not been on the restructuring communities radar. However, last year global oil prices hit an all-time low, which led to a record number of insolvencies in the industry. Consequently in conjunction with Lexis Nexis we have produced the Guide to insolvency in the UK oil and gas … Continue Reading
Only a month ago we were singing the praises of the CVA and calling them the saviour of the high street following the creditors’ approval of the BHS CVA. (See our earlier blog Move over Mary Portas, CVA’s are the real saviour of the High Street). In the last week, administrators were appointed to both BHS and … Continue Reading
Directors of a company are subject to certain duties under the Companies Act 2006. These duties are of obvious importance throughout their service as a director but some of them become particularly important during the period leading up to the insolvency of the company. If a current or former director of a company knew or … Continue Reading
Maple Bank GmbH (“Maple”) has operated in Frankfurt, Germany since 1994. The bank acted in the business areas of equity and fixed income trading, repos and securities lending, deposits, structured products and institutional sales. Maple has branches in Germany, Netherlands and Canada and subsidiaries in U.S., U.K. and the Cayman islands. It is part of the … Continue Reading
The directors of the failed courier company City Link had a good reason to celebrate this weekend after the dismissal of criminal charges brought against them for failing to notify the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (“BIS”) of their intention to make City Link’s circa 2,500 employees redundant last Christmas. As explained in an earlier blog by our employment … Continue Reading
One of the changes introduced by the Small Business Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 (“SBEE”) which came into force on 1 October 2015 was to allow administrators and liquidators the right to assign their rights of action in respect of fraudulent trading claims, wrongful trading claims, transactions at an undervalue, preferences and extortionate credit transactions. A summary of the … Continue Reading
The suitability of the collective consultation regime under the Trade Union and Labour Relation (Consolidation) Act 1992 (“TULRCA”) in an insolvency scenario has always been a hot topic amongst insolvency professionals. The recent case of West Coast Capital (USC) Limited (“USC”) provides a stark example of the hard-line approach the Secretary of State for Business … Continue Reading
Further to the review of pre-pack administration sales (“pre-packs”) by Teresa Graham CBE last year (the findings of which were published in the “Graham Report” and discussed in one of our earlier blogs, Change in Sight for UK Pre-pack Administration Regulation), the key recommendations have now been implemented in order to improve fairness and transparency … Continue Reading
On 14 September 2015, judgment was handed down in the case of Re SSRL Realisations Limited (In Administration), in which a landlord was granted permission to forfeit a lease by peaceable re-entry. The case will be of interest to insolvency practitioners and landlords alike – but for very different reasons. The facts of this case … Continue Reading
