The Privy Council has rejected an attempt to block a cross-border liquidation on procedural grounds in UBS AG New York v Fairfield Sentry [2019] UKPC 20.

Liquidators entitled to a fair fee

The New South Wales Court of Appeal recently handed down an important judgment on the remuneration of registered liquidators.

In Purewal v Countrywide Residential Lettings Ltd [2015] EWCA Civ 1122, the receivers of a property did not make an insurance claim in relation to damage to the property.  The mortgagor of the property (a bankrupt) repaired the property himself.  He brought an action against the receivers for breach of duty by failing to make an insurance claim, claiming damages for the cost of the repairs.

The Northern Ireland High Court has annulled a bankruptcy order made with procedural irregularities that would have allowed the debtor to escape the much heavier consequences of a debt in the Republic of Ireland.

When action is taken against a receiver with a right to indemnity from the assets received, that receiver can indemnify himself, even if the action is brought after the receiver has been discharged.

In Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy v PAG Asset Preservation Ltd [2019] EWHC 2890 the Secretary presented petitions under s 124A of the Insolvency Act 1986 to wind up two companies on public interest grounds. These companies were PAG Asset Preservation Limited and MB Vacant Property Solutions Limited (the Companies).

In this English case, a secured lender (Nationwide) appointed administrators to three companies. However, before appointing, Nationwide had:

The applicants in Closegate Hotel Development (Durham) Limited & Anor v McLean & Ors [2013] EWHC 3237 (Ch) were companies that had borrowed money off Barclays Bank to finance a hotel venture.  That funding was secured by floating charges granted by the companies.

In Ebbvale Ltd v Andrew Lawrence Hosking (Trustee in Bankruptcy of Andreas Sofroniou Michaelides) [2013] UKPC 1, the Privy Council upheld a winding-up order against a Bahamian company, even though the principal purpose of the petitioning creditor may have been related to obtaining an advantage in separate proceedings in the United Kingdom.

In our December 2010 insolvency update, we reported on the UK High Court's decision in BNY Corporate Trustee Services Limited v Eurosail.