The Corporate Insolvency and Governance Bill (the Bill) is being accelerated through Parliament and will soon become the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 (the Act).

The Act, intended to give extra support to companies in financial difficulty, is likely to come into effect during July 2020. An overview of the Act can be found in our previous article.

As a direct result of the restrictions imposed by the Government on us all in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, many companies have suddenly and unexpectedly found themselves in a position where they are unable to pay their suppliers and are therefore insolvent on a cash flow basis.

The onset of the coronavirus has created an unprecedented (in peace time) environment of restriction of movement which will impact significantly on how businesses operate.

Business leaders / key decision makers are faced with considerable challenges in identifying how their businesses will function going forward in these uncertain times.