S216(3) of the Insolvency Act 1986 restricts former directors of insolvent companies from being involved with companies or businesses using a prohibited name for five years following an insolvent liquidation. S216(3) provides that, unless leave is granted by the court or one of the statutory exceptions applies, a person who was a director of a … Continue Reading
On remand from the Fifth Circuit, the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas (the “Court”) held in the Serta Simmons Bedding (“Serta”) liability management exercise (“LME”)[1] dispute that a credit agreement’s pro-rata sharing provision applied to noncash payments, in this case, a debt-for-debt exchange, and not solely to cash payments. The Serta Court … Continue Reading
With the anticipated appeal in Novalpina having been heard at the end of last month, practitioners will be watching closely to see what the courts have in store for solvent liquidations. In particular, there remains considerable interest in whether the first instance findings concerning the requirement to pay all debts, together with statutory interest, within … Continue Reading
When placing a company into Members’ Voluntary Liquidation (“MVL“), the statutory declaration of solvency is not simply a box‑ticking exercise. The recent High Court judgment in Greenbank Technology Ltd (in liquidation) serves as a stark reminder that a statutory declaration is a substantive legal act, not just a formality that can be cured later. Greenback … Continue Reading
The Insolvency Service has launched its Second Review of the Insolvency (England and Wales) Rules 2016 and the Insolvency (Scotland) (Company Voluntary Arrangements and Administration) Rules 2018. While this is formally a statutory post-implementation review, it is much more than a box-ticking exercise. The consultation provides an opportunity to influence how insolvency processes operate in … Continue Reading
In Cross Transport Ltd (In Administration) [2026] EWHC 1636 (Ch) the Court was asked to consider the “super priority” status afford to protected moratorium debts in the context of a subsequent administration. The Insolvency Act 1986 requires a company, entering a moratorium, to pay certain debts that are incurred during the moratorium period (“moratorium debts”), … Continue Reading
Judge Craig Goldblatt’s recent decision in the Delaware bankruptcy court carves out a safe haven for creditors amid the Third Circuit’s expanding view of what claims belong to a debtor’s estate. Relying on the Third Circuit’s decision in Whittaker, Clark & Daniels[1], Judge Goldblatt held that certain claims against directors and officers, which are traditionally … Continue Reading
B.E. Capital Management Fund LP v. Fund.com Inc., C.A. No. 12843‑JTL (Del. Ch. Apr. 10, 2026) INTRODUCTION Can a successor receiver let a past receiver, removed for being a “faithless fiduciary,” bid to buy company assets at auction? In B.E. Capital Management Fund LP v. Fund.com Inc., the Delaware Court of Chancery (the “Court”) highlighted … Continue Reading
The Court of Appeal’s recent judgment in TAQA Bratani Limited (“TAQA”) & Others v Fujairah Oil & Gas UK LLC & Others [2025] EWCA Civ 1669 provides clarity on how the Court will approach the question of whether a transaction, is a transaction at an undervalue caught under s.238 of the Insolvency Act 1986 (“Act”). … Continue Reading
Ahead of the Insolvency Rules Review expected this summer, the Insolvency Service have published a new statutory instrument (SI) that will come into force on 22 June. This seeks to tidy up a few of the “niggles” found in the Insolvency Rules 2016 (Rules) that have caused practitioners a headache, as well as making a … Continue Reading
When Waldorf Production UK Plc returned to court with its second restructuring plan in a year, the primary opposition it faced was from HMRC who voted against the plan. Mr Justice Green ultimately sanctioned the plan, cramming down the liabilities owed to HMRC but the judgment provides some helpful insight into the position taken by … Continue Reading
Have the doors to U.S. Bankruptcy courts finally swung open to cannabis companies? Perhaps, but still in only very limited circumstances involving a foreign debtor. Nonetheless, Judge Brendan Shannon’s recent order granting recognition of a Canadian insolvency proceeding [1] filed by a cannabis company is the first crack in the door that many bankruptcy professionals … Continue Reading
The Renters Rights Act 2025 (Act), which came into force on 1 May 2026 aims to give private tenants greater security and protection from eviction, in many respects aligning the position with business tenants who are in occupation under a protected business tenancy. For insolvency practitioners (IPs) appointed as administrators or liquidators of a business … Continue Reading
The Building Safety Act 2022 introduced sweeping changes to address this country’s building safety failures exposed by Grenfell. One of its most significant and arguably most revolutionary remedies introduced by the Act is the Building Liability Order, or BLO, designed to prevent relevant building safety liabilities being left behind in undercapitalised project companies while associated … Continue Reading
The U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware has issued a significant ruling in the cross‑border insolvency practice that reaffirms U.S. recognition of foreign restructuring plans containing third-party releases. Crédito Real S.A.B. DE C.V., SOFOM, E.N.R. (“Crédito Real”) was one of Mexico’s largest non-banking financial lending institutions. In 2021, Crédito Real experienced a liquidity … Continue Reading
There is something to be said for “assume the worst” when it comes to defects in administration appointments and extensions. The court has taken this approach in a few cases where, rather than trying to work out the intricacies and effect of a defect on an appointment or extension, it has assumed the worst (i.e … Continue Reading
It has been a while since we have had any cases challenging the fairness of a CVA, but in this recent Scottish decision where HMRC challenged the approval of Petrofac’s CVA on the basis of fairness, the court was required to consider HMRC’s contention that the CVA unfairly prejudiced its interests. In The Advocate General … Continue Reading
The powers of provisional liquidators are generally as set out in the order appointing them. In longer running provisional liquidations, this can lead to multiple trips to court by the provisional liquidators to extend or confirm powers. In Re Versilia Solutions Limited[1] the High Court considered the scope of provisional liquidators’ powers in circumstances where, … Continue Reading
The recent High Court decision in Maher and another v Investalet Ltd [2025] EWHC 3133 (Ch) serves as a critical reminder for insolvency practitioners about the importance of choosing the correct procedural route when seeking possession of property. It is an important case for insolvency practitioners dealing with intermediate landlords and unauthorised occupiers. In this … Continue Reading
When a business runs 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
