Restructuring Plans (RPs)
2024 was a year of firsts for RPs, and as case law in this area continues to evolve, there is little doubt that this will carry through into 2025.
It would be remiss not to expect to see more RPs in 2025. News of Thames Water's restructuring is "splashed" all over the press and Speciality Steel's plan might see the first "cram up" of creditors, but there seems a long way to go to get creditors onside.
Recent legislative reform in the water sector has expanded the special administration regime and there are further changes on the horizon
Next month marks the hotly anticipated sanction hearing for the Thames Water restructuring plan. We take this opportunity to look back at the key legislative changes made last year, as well as those earmarked for the future.
2024 legislative changes
New legislation was introduced last year to amend the special administration regime for the water sector.
The key changes to the existing regime were as follows:
The role and duties of company directors are well established in English law through the Companies Act and case law. These principles are widely applied in many jurisdictions, including the Bahamas, where UK cases about directors’ liability and related issues carry considerable weight.
At-a-glance cases provided by Gatehouse Chambers’ Insolvency Team, featuring:
A recent decision of the Commercial Sheriff Court at Perth in the case of Priority Construction UK Limited v Advanced Material Processing Limited, reported at [2024] SC PER 48, has confirmed the position in relation to the proper basis for liquidation petitions to be brought against debtor companies. The moral of this story is that liquidation petitions should not be used to try to recover a validly disputed debt - something that all creditors and practitioners should be alert to.
The facts
The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) has published guidance (the Guidance) following the publication of the Sanctions (EU Exit) (Miscellaneous Amendments) (No.2) Regulations 2024 (the Regulations) on 14 November 2024. OFSI is the body with regulatory oversight of the financial sanctions regime and is responsible for its implementation and enforcement within the UK.
In a recent decision, the High Court refused to grant the Financial Times access to the whole of the Secretary of State's affirmation in support of directors' disqualification proceedings against Alexander Greensill, pursuant to either CPR 5.4C or the court's inherent jurisdiction.
On 20 November 2024, the UK Supreme Court delivered its judgment in the case of Kireeva v Bedzhamov1. The court ruled that a Russian bankruptcy trustee has no claim over a bankrupt's property in Belgrave Square on the basis that the court has no jurisdiction to assist a foreign bankruptcy trustee in respect of immovable property located in England and Wales and that such property is unaffected by a foreign bankruptcy order. This decision reaffirms the immovables rule, which (subject to exceptions) protects immovable property such as land from foreign bankruptcy claims.
The UK construction sector is experiencing an increasing rate of insolvency, with recent data revealing that construction firms accounted for 17.4% of all insolvencies in England and Wales in August 2024. Over the past year, the total number of construction firms becoming insolvent has increased by 2.1%.