The UK Jurisdiction Taskforce (UKJT) has published its "Legal Statement on Digital Assets and English Insolvency Law." The Statement confirms the view that digital assets are a form of personal property to which insolvency laws apply. It also affirms that the current approach taken by the English courts to determine whether they are the appropriate venue for the commencement of insolvency proceedings works for a company dealing in digital assets.

The Legal Statement applies areas of insolvency law to digital assets, providing valuable guidance on the approach English courts will take.

The adage ‘there is no such thing as a free lunch’ rings true for the 831 company directors disqualified in 2023/24 for abusing the Covid financial support scheme.

Although the law, rules and procedures governing corporate insolvency in Scotland and England and Wales are similar in many respects, Scotland has a separate legal system and there are some important differences in the provisions and rules applicable north and south of the border. The differences include:

The English court has (for the first time) given guidance on the long-established practice of substituting a creditor as petitioner in a winding up petition and hearing argument about the creditor’s standing later.

Background

In March 2021, Citibank petitioned to wind up Liberty Commodities (LCL). The petition was supported by two creditors, White Oak and NPS. Citibank settled with LCL and applied to dismiss the petition. The supporters applied to be substituted.

What matters

This article delves into some key considerations for suppliers when dealing with customers where there may be a risk of non-payment or insolvency circumstances and how a supplier can minimise the risk to their cash flow and business.

What matters next

On 12 September 2023, the government published its long-awaited response to its consultation on the future of insolvency regulation.

The reforms will introduce:

This article considers the New South Wales Supreme Court’s decision to grant leave to proceed against non-appearing foreign defendants, which were in foreign insolvency proceedings.

There has been a significant growth of litigation in Australia where there is at least one foreign defendant. This is unsurprising given the growing number of international agreements under which the parties govern their contract under Australian law and expressly agree to Australian court jurisdiction, and the volume of global trade with Australia and foreign direct investment.

On Wednesday, 13 September, the Economy and Fair Work Committee (the "Committee") of the Scottish Parliament heard evidence regarding the general principles of the Bankruptcy and Diligence (Scotland) Bill (the "Bill"). At this stage, the Committee is responsible for examining the Bill and making a recommendation about whether Parliament should support the main purpose of the Bill.

This series looks at the enforcement options available to creditors to recover sums due by a debtor in Scotland. In previous editions we looked at the remedies of Inhibition and Earnings Arrestment.