Conviviality, the company that owns Bargain Booze, Wine Rack and acts as supplier to Wetherspoons, Slug & Lettuce and many others, entered Administration on 4 April. The company's collapse was sudden and unexpected - as late as 8 March its stock market value was over £550 million, but its share price fell from 301p to 123p in less than 24 hours. This wiped £300 million off the company's value, a drop from which it never recovered.
Do controlled goods agreements (“CGA”s) create security which a creditor can rely on against an insolvent debtor?
CGAs are relatively new instruments which have replaced the practice of walking possession agreements. A CGA is defined under paragraph 13(4) of Schedule 12 of The Taking Control of Goods Regulations 2013 as “an agreement under which the debtor -:
(a) is permitted to retain custody of the goods,
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The British government has commenced an airline insolvency review, in the wake of recent high profile airline failures such as Monarch and Air Berlin, and on the premise that changes in the industry have outpaced protection regimes.
The review will focus on two main areas: repatriation of stranded passengers and redress for consumers. There is a desire to minimise repatriation costs falling on the public purse and ensure that consumers have clear avenues of redress.
A summary of recent developments in insurance, reinsurance and litigation law.
Engelhart CTP v Lloyd's Syndicate 1221: Court holds that all risks cargo policy did not cover fraudulent documents for a non-existent cargo
On occasion, parties engaged in court proceedings will consider procedural tactics with the ultimate intention of exerting such pressure on their adversaries that their weakened position, or even inability to pursue the proceedings, will work to their advantage. Such a situation arose in (1) Deleclass Shipping Co. Ltd (2) MWI Shipping Services Ltd v Ingosstrakh Insurance Co. Ltd (2018) where the defendant's application for security for costs became very problematic for the claimants.
There are few areas of insolvency law more fraught with pitfalls than the insolvency of unincorporated charities, in particular charitable trusts. From the preliminary and decision-making stages to the actual liquidation of the charity’s assets, it can pose unique challenges about which trustees and Insolvency Practitioners (IPs) must be aware.
The Court held that it had jurisdiction to order a Latvian bank to disclose information regarding a bankrupt's dealings. The Joint Trustees of the Bankrupt's estate had demonstrated that their request was reasonable and was required to identify further assets that the Bankrupt might hold.
This decision is the latest that has been made in relation to the bankruptcy of Mr Shlosberg, a Russian businessman domiciled in London. Mr Shlosberg was made bankrupt in January 2015 on a judgment debt of US$195 million plus interest.
At the start of 2017, UK businesses had reported a 33% risk of insolvency, compared to the end of 2017 which saw that figure increase to nearly 40%.
These figures were calculated by drawing together key performance indicators including balance sheets and records of the directors’ successful (or unsuccessful) directorship history.
The long-awaited new Practice Direction – Insolvency Proceedings (PDIP), which came into force on 25 April 2018, has now brought procedure into line with the changes introduced by the significant amendments to the Insolvency Act 1986 (the Act) introduced last year and the Insolvency (England and Wales) Rules 2016 (IR 2016), as amended. This has finally brought to an end the agonisingly long period (over 12 months) in which the provisions of the previous Practice Direction have been at odds with the Act as amended and IR 2016.
On 25 April 2018 a new Insolvency Practice Direction came into force with immediate effect (PDIP 2018). Its purpose is to bring the insolvency practice directions into alignment with the procedural requirements under the Insolvency Rules 2016 and the new Business and Property Courts Practice Direction.