The Insolvency and Company Court of England and Wales recently held in Sell Your Car With Us Ltd v Anil Sareen [2019] EWHC 2332 (Ch) that, when a debtor fails to comply with a statutory demand and has no arguable case to dispute a debt, a winding-up petition (initiation of liquidation proceedings) is appropriate, despite judges previously expressing distaste towards the use of a petition as a method of debt collection.
The UK case of Cherkasov & Ors v Olegovich, the Official Receiver of Dalnyaya Step concerns an application for security for costs against a liquidator.
A Russian court appointed a liquidator to the Russian subsidiary of a Guernsey unit trust. The liquidator applied for recognition of the liquidation proceeding as a foreign proceeding in the UK under the Cross-Border Insolvency Regulations 2006. The application for a recognition order was granted.
In Cook v Mortgage Debenture, Mr Cook applied to be joined to a proceeding that was being continued by a claimant company after it had been placed into administration. The issue was whether the Court's consent was required on the basis that the application was against a company in administration (the English legislation being similar to section 248 of the Companies Act 1993). The Court concluded that, while the moratorium covered legal proceedings against a company in administration or liquidation, it does not cover defensive steps in proceedings brought (or contin
In the case of Garwood v Bank of Scotland PLC, the English High Court found that a charge that had been mistakenly released should be re-registered over property in the estate of a bankrupt, although this meant that the estate available to unsecured creditors would decrease.
In Finnerty v Clark the appellants were the sole shareholders and substantial unsecured creditors of St George's Property Services (London) Ltd (St George). The respondents were administrators of St George. The High Court decision was reviewed in our December 2010 insolvency legal update.
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.