HMRC clamping down on furlough fraud by companies in Danger Zone

The latest statistics show that over 11 million workers have been furloughed in the UK as part of the government's job retention scheme (that equates to 16% of the population or one in six people) and 41% of employers had staff furloughed. The scheme has so far cost the government over £40 billion and this figure will continue to rise until the end of September this year when the scheme is set to wind down.

Will your business be financially viable at the end of lockdown? What challenges does 2021 pose? What are the next steps

Background

Travel & Aviation Quarterly Issue 3 – Spring 2021 3 Hare Court Travel & Aviation Quarterly 2 www.3harecourt.com Issue 3 – Spring 2021 21 Table of Contents Foreword 4 Contributors to Issue 3 5 What will change in UK equality and employment law as a result of Brexit?

In distressed situations, commercial negotiations will often go down to the wire. Whilst proposals for restructurings may be approved in principle among stakeholders, their implementation may rely to a greater or lesser degree on future agreement among the relevant parties. The recent decision of Mr Justice Trower in Re Smile Telecoms Holdings Ltd provides guidance on how those factors weigh on the sanction of Restructuring Plans in the UK’s new insolvency regime.

Although the UK left the EU on 31 January 2020, the impact of Brexit on cross-border insolvencies was largely postponed until the end of the transition period at 11pm on 31 December 2020.

The UK is now designated as a "third country" from the perspective of the EU, directly applicable EU laws and regulations no longer apply, and the Brexit Trade and Cooperation Agreement does not deal with cross-border insolvencies. As such, insolvency practitioners may now be left feeling that they are effectively in a "no-deal" scenario.

Background

The UK Restructuring Plan took its first foray down the well-trodden path of lease restructuring over the last week. The Restructuring Plan has been used through to court sanction in five cases so far: however, none has sought to compromise landlord claims, the preferred tool for which has until now been the CVA.

The current legislation, particularly the Coronavirus (Scotland) Act 2020; Coronavirus (No 2) (Scotland) Act 2020 and the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020, contain measures to protect debtors affected by Covid-19.

These measures restrict the options available to landlords and creditors and have been extended to remain in force until 30 September 2021, although some measures will cease on 30 June pending subject to any further extension which may be granted.

Commercial Leases

Irritancy

Following the UK Government extending the restrictions on winding up petitions until 30 June 2021 it is useful to note two recent cases that have considered the coronavirus test that currently applies to winding up petitions.

In June 2020, the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act (the “CIGA”) introduced a new procedure to the restructuring toolkit in England & Wales, the Part 26A restructuring plan (the “Plan”, see further detail on CIGA in our article here). The Plan is similar to the well-tested English law scheme of arrangement (the “Scheme”), and the English courts have so far relied on the wealth of Scheme case law to guide them in deciding whether to sanction a Plan.