Contents

With inflationary pressures and battered supply chains plaguing business, the debate has resumed over how long struggling firms can put off restructuring

With governments winding down Covid-19 support, supply chains buckling under multiple disruptions, growth stalling and high inflation taking hold, it is unsurprising that businesses are feeling the pressure at 2022's halfway mark. The worsening climate recently prompted JPMorgan Chase chief executive Jamie Dimon to warn investors of an incoming economic "hurricane".

If you have fraudulently obtained Covid-19 financial support, such as a Bounce Back Loan, you must be pretty worried by recent headlines that show company directors being disqualified, fined and jailed.

Elon Musk recently said he has a "super bad feeling" about the economy, pithily declaring what most financial commentators have been predicting in more technical terms.

On 28 June 2022 the Insolvency Service published a report it had commissioned from RSM UK to assess the impact that CVAs were having on commercial landlords (the “Report”).

On 30 June 2022, the English court handed down judgment and made a winding-up order in respect of Galapagos S.A., marking an important milestone in an almost three-year cross-border insolvency battle involving the English, German and European courts.

The decision also provides helpful guidance on the application of the Recast European Insolvency Regulation post-Brexit, as well as the extent to which pre-Brexit jurisprudence should still be considered retained in, or relevant to, English law.

Galapagos: The Facts

The Insolvency Service has published an interim report which evaluates three permanent changes to the insolvency regime as introduced by The Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 (CIGA): restructuring plans; the standalone moratorium and the restriction on contractual termination rights (so-called ipso facto clauses). The takeaway messages are as follows:

Uncertain times have a knock-on effect on all aspects of life including business. The pandemic, Brexit, ever-rising inflation and now an energy crisis against the backdrop of war in Europe have made many businesses face financial difficulty.

Suppliers and customers alike are facing extraordinary pressures, and this can affect key supply contracts. This has meant the importance of insolvency law and practice in this area has risen considerably.

What happens if a customer becomes insolvent?

There is a sense of "judgment fatigue" when it comes to decisions about the validity of an administrator's appointment or the extension of the administrator's time in office. However, the decision of Deputy ICC Judge Curl QC, in the case of Re E Realisations 2020 Limited, is worth paying attention to.

Summary

The Insolvency Service has released its report on CVAs (the “Report”), which was commissioned in response to the significant concerns raised by the commercial property sector in recent years and the legal challenges launched by landlords against a number of CVAs.