After a period of significant inactivity as a result of the various temporary measures introduced during the pandemic, we are now approaching an insolvency cliff edge in the UK. In this video, senior restructuring and insolvency lawyers from TLT’s Scottish, Northern Irish and English offices discuss:
The European Commission has published forms to be used under the Recast European Insolvency Regulation (Recast EIR).
Insolvency Practitioners will need to be familiar with the forms and the circumstances in which they should be used.
What are the new forms?
In summary, the new forms are:
1. A standard notice form to be used by courts or Insolvency Practitioners to inform known foreign creditors of the opening of insolvency proceedings;
2. A standard claim form to be used by foreign creditors to lodge claims;
A Sheriff at Glasgow Sheriff Court has recently published a judgment showing its approach regarding the role played by a court reporter in an application by a liquidator to seek approval of remuneration.
The note concerned the case of One Optical Limited (in liquidation) (the Company).
This judgment is useful for insolvency practitioners in setting out how a court (in this case Glasgow Sheriff Court) views the role of a court reporter when approving (or otherwise) the remuneration of a liquidator.
On 4 December 2019, the Supreme Court handed down its judgment in MacDonald and another (Respondents) v Carnbroe Estates Ltd (Appellant) (Scotland) [2019] UKSC 57. The appeal concerned the interpretation of ‘adequate consideration’ under section 242 of the Insolvency Act 1986 (the “Act”) and the remedies that courts can apply if there is a gratuitous alienation, and inadequate consideration paid for the transaction in question.
On 31 October the Supreme Court handed down the judgment in the case of Dooneen Limited t/a McGuiness Associates v David Mond.
The judgment confirmed that a trustee is not entitled to property discovered after a trust deed has been terminated and the trustee discharged and therefore provides some much needed clarity for banks, debtors and trustees who face this situation.
The facts
A statutory waste removal obligation incurred by a company before it entered liquidation was held to be dischargeable as an expense of the liquidation (Re Doonin Plant Limited [2018] ScotCS CSOH 89).
The Insolvency community in Scotland has watched with interest the case of Grampian MacLennan's Distribution Services Ltd v Carnbroe Estates Ltd and in particular Lord Woolman's eyebrow raising opinion at first instance that a distressed sale by a company of its major asset (an industrial unit comprising a warehouse, vehicle workshop and yard with gatehouse) had not constituted a gratuitous alienation where the sale has been off market at a price of £550,000 whereas the property had been valued at £1,200,000 on the open market or at £800,000 on a restricted 180 day marketing period
A recent Judgment by Sheriff Jamieson at Dumfries Sheriff Court has provided some guidance on the scope of the role of a Court Appointed Reporter in assessing the remuneration of liquidators.
The Court of Session has found that the EU Regulations to found jurisdiction for Insolvency proceedings based on COMI do not apply in a purely UK matter.
Bank Leumi (UK) plc (The bank) lodged a petition to make an Administration Order in respect of Screw Conveyor Limited (the company). While the company's registered office was in Birmingham, the bank stated in its petition that the company's centre of main interest (COMI) was in Scotland.
The Accountant in Bankruptcy (AiB) has released its Annual Report and Accounts for the year 2016-17. The report contains a wealth of data, including a collation of the AiB's quarterly insolvency statistics.
Corporate insolvency