Directors of English companies that entered into insolvency proceedings in Germany could be liable to reimburse the company under German law for payments made after the company became insolvent.

In my recent article with respect to individuals applying for bankruptcy online, dated 4 April 2016, I reported that the Insolvency Service must be vigilant with respect to abuse. In particular, it is a debtor’s duty is to provide the Official Receiver or Trustee with details of all known assets. Failing to do this is an offence, under Section 354(1) of the Insolvency Act 1986 (IA 1986).

From 6 April 2016 an application for an individual resident in England and Wales to go bankrupt will be an online procedure (in Northern Ireland, the changes will apply from November 2016). This change was brought about by the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013.

A debtor will complete an online application to be reviewed by a newly created “Adjudicator”, where previously an application was made in person to the Court. As a result of the changes the court will only be involved in a minority of cases involving an appeal or a post-order application, thus freeing up court time.

Since Retail Acquisitions acquired BHS it has been rationalising its stores as well as other measures in order to turn its fortunes around. However that may not be enough because it believes it is paying considerably more than the market rate on some of its premises.

In order to implement overhead reductions, it may prepare proposals for a CVA, to reduce its rental liability, and perhaps its overall position with creditors, depending on how the restructure is planned.