Following our previous alert, in which we highlighted an issue with entries relating to registered security maintained at Companies House being incorrectly updated to indicate that they had in fact been discharged without the aware

The Court of Appeal has handed down judgment in the case of Humphrey v Bennett, providing some useful guidance on the nature and scope of a director’s duty to avoid conflicts of interest. The case was an appeal against summary judgment of the High Court following a derivative claim brought on behalf of a company by minority shareholders. The case will be of particular interest to directors of smaller companies whose management structures very often operate on a more informal footing.

HMRC has recently updated its published guidance on the effect of insolvency on existing VAT groups following appointment of an insolvency practitioner.

The updated guidance

The updated guidance provides that:

As part of its response to the COVID-19 situation, Companies House has announced that it will accept the filing of statutory insolvency documents via emailed PDF attachments.

This measure applies to companies registered in Scotland, as well as England & Wales and is yet another practical example of the steps being taken to try and alleviate the administrative burden on insolvency practitioners.

As 2023 ends and insolvency rates hit worrying new highs, any suggestion that there is light at the end of the UK’s economic tunnel is not supported by the statistics. We look at what may lie ahead for the restructuring and insolvency sector next year.

When Part 26A of the Companies Act was introduced in 2020, the Government deliberately modelled the legislation on Part 26, with the view that the new regime (and the advisers and judges seeking to navigate it) would benefit from piggy-backing on over a century’s worth of case law relating to schemes of arrangement.

Landlords might be starting to feel a little uneasy given the news that Superdry is considering a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA). Superdry is reportedly working with accountants to hash out a plan that will likely involve shutting down certain stores and cutting rent liabilities. The accountants instructed will be exploring whether either a CVA or a Restructuring Plan - both of which are processes which allow businesses to seek to reduce their liabilities to creditors – would be appropriate.

What exactly is a CVA?

To modernise the restructuring toolkit available to special administrators, the UK government has introduced changes to the English special administration regime (SAR)1 for distressed water companies. The changes follow reports of significant stress in the water services sector.

New Changes

Background

The collapse of Carillion in 2018 was arguably the UK's largest corporate insolvency in years, creating a lasting impact through job losses and the derailment of hundreds of public sector projects.

Restructuring Advisory Partner David Hudson considers the outlook for corporates

There’s no denying that the latest insolvency figures make for uncomfortable reading. In 2023, there were more than 25,000 registered company insolvencies, the highest annual number since 1993 and 14% higher than 2022.