When a business runs into into financial difficulties and proposes a Company Voluntary Arrangement (“CVA”), landlords, insolvency practitioners and local authorities can disagree about who should pick up the bill for business rates on empty leasehold premises – the landlord, or the company in CVA?… Continue Reading
In a world where it is much more common to send someone a text, a WhatsApp message, email or other electronic communication, than type a letter or put pen to paper, the Court does find itself now and again considering how the digital ways of communicating interact with laws that were introduced way before the … Continue Reading
At the beginning of 2025 we shared our predictions on what we expected to see in the R&I market over the course of the year. How did we do? … Continue Reading
On December 1, 2025, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (Honorable Denise Cote) entered an opinion and order that struck third-party releases and a related injunction in a confirmed Chapter 11 Plan (the “Plan”) for the In re Gol Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes S.A., et al. bankruptcy cases (Case No. … Continue Reading
For reasons explained in this blog, they did not in the case of Conway and others v Plass and others [2025] EWHC 2625 (Ch) but there could be situations where it might. In Conway and others v Plass and others, the High Court has provided guidance on when contract liabilities incurred by administrators will be … Continue Reading
As practitioners will know, when dealing with a sale of an insolvent business they will have to consider whether the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (TUPE) applies. TUPE applies to transfers of businesses or undertakings (or parts of them). If there has been a relevant transfer under regulation 3 of TUPE, then … Continue Reading
New guidance is the latest in a move to iron out the practical wrinkles from Part 26 and 26A of the Companies Act 2006. On 18 September 2025, the Chancellor of the High Court published a revised Practice Statement regarding Schemes of Arrangement and Restructuring Plans (the “Practice Statement”). This follows a consultation on a … Continue Reading
The ability to cram down dissenting creditors in a Restructuring Plan (RP) is a helpful tool to ensure that a proposed restructuring is not derailed. But ultimately the power rests with the court in deciding whether to cram down an RP on dissenting creditors.… Continue Reading
In the High Court decision of Pagden v Ridgley [2025] EWHC 2674 (Ch), Mr Justice Foxton considered an appeal from a decision by ICC Judge Greenwood, who previously dismissed a challenge to the fees charged by an administrator for selling land subject to a fixed charge.… Continue Reading
The High Court has refused to use its discretion to sanction a restructuring plan proposed by Waldorf Production UK Plc (Waldorf or the Company) which entailed a cramdown of the company’s unsecured creditors pursuant to Part 26A of the Companies Act 2006. Background Waldorf (and its wider group) are engaged in the exploration and production … Continue Reading
HMRC has issued new guidance explaining its expectations for the proportionate and appropriate use of Notices of Intended Dividends (NOIDs) in an MVL in light of what it says are challenges created by practitioners issuing a NOID at the start of an MVL where doing so might be inappropriate. … Continue Reading
The Court of Appeal has handed down judgment in the Petrofac restructuring plan, overturning the sanctioning of the plans by the High Court. This is only the third time a restructuring plan has been considered by the Court of Appeal, in this blog we focus in on some of the key points of interest for … Continue Reading
What does it mean to be “bankrupt?” The Fourth Circuit recently held oral arguments to determine this question in Bestwall, LLC v. The Official Committee of Asbestos Claimants.[1] There, the Asbestos Claimants asserted that the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of North Carolina (the “Bankruptcy Court”) lacks jurisdiction over Bestwall, because Bestwall … Continue Reading
In the recent appeal of Yerbury v Azets[1], the Court reiterated that an employer of an LPA receiver cannot be held vicariously liable for the actions of a receiver during a receivership and helpfully clarified the parameters of the receiver’s role by virtue of their appointment. In this blog, we delve further into the High … Continue Reading
As insolvency practitioners (IPs) it is not unusual to have to consider the terms of a particular contract, whether that is enforcing the terms of that for the insolvent entity or considering the rights of the third party as against the company, and in some cases, it is necessary for IPs to enter into a … Continue Reading
Article 7(m) of the EU Insolvency Regulation (2015/848) provides that the law of the EU Member State in which insolvency proceedings have been commenced in respect of a company determines whether certain acts carried out prior to the commencement of insolvency proceedings, (such as payments made by the company), are void, voidable or unenforceable and … Continue Reading
Much will depend on the specifics of a company’s financial position, but there are some themes from the OutsideClinic and Enzen judgments that are helpful – and arguably so even beyond the context of RPs for a company’s managing its relationship with HMRC. Is HMRC in or out of the money? In OutsideClinic HMRC had … Continue Reading
S423 of the Insolvency Act 1986 (IA 1986) provides a route for office holders to challenge transactions where a person deliberately transfers assets at an undervalue to put them beyond the reach of creditors. The Supreme Court in El-Husseiny and another (Appellants) v Invest Bank PSC (Respondent) [2025] UKSC 4 recently confirmed what is meant … Continue Reading
The Outside Clinic restructuring plan (RP) was sanctioned last week with HMRC voting in favour of it. In a similar vein to Enzen (see our earlier blog) HMRC initially indicated that it was not inclined to support the plan, but, after negotiating a higher return following the convening hearing, it voted in favour of it. A … Continue Reading
You may have read our previous blog about the Outside Clinic Restructuring Plan (RP) which asked whether 5p was enough to cram down HMRC and thought, well surely if that’s not enough, 10p would work? The Enzen Restructuring Plans (RPs) that were sanctioned this week also sought to compromise HMRC’s secondary preferential debt proposing a … Continue Reading
Should a claim be struck out where the applicant has failed to comply with the procedural requirements relating to “hybrid” claims? In the recent case of Park Regis Birmingham LLP [2025] EWHC 139 (ch), the High Court held that it would be disproportionate to strike out the claim on that basis.… Continue Reading
For those in the mid-market who have watched developments in restructuring plans (RP) move from a potential rescue tool, to something prohibitively expensive, the OutsideClinic RP might be one to watch. Not least because the RP seeks to cram down HMRC. Following RPs proposed by Naysmyth and the Great Annual Savings Company (which were unsuccessful … Continue Reading
Our recently updated article considers how EU and German civil and regulatory law approach crypto assets with a particular focus on how those types of crypto assets are dealt with in an insolvency. In this article we explore the different types of crypto assets there are, the legal nature of them, how crypto assets are … Continue Reading
When it comes to applications by office-holders for approval of their remuneration, the message in the case of Poxon and another v Wejo Ltd (in administration) [2025] EWHC 135 (Ch) was, the detail matters. Background Having failed to obtain approval from the creditors in respect of both their pre and post administration costs, the joint … Continue Reading
