Sanctions regulations won't prevent administration orders but may affect timings and require undertakings

Unregistered and time-barred foreign judgments can found the basis of insolvency proceedings in England

The English High Court has ruled that unregistered and time-barred foreign judgments can found the basis of insolvency proceedings in England.

The threat of insolvency proceedings can be a strong form of leverage to obtain a successful outcome on enforcement of a judgment debt, as judgment debtors will often pay up when faced with the prospect of being found insolvent.

Foreign money judgments

Introduction

A recent Commercial Court decision has raised an intriguing question of private international law: can a foreign judgment be enforced in England and Wales if it is not enforceable in the country where it was given?

The High Court recently issued its ruling in the matter of Re Avanti Communications Limited (in administration). It is the first major case since the pivotal 2005 House of Lords decision of Re Spectrum Plus  to examine the characteristics of fixed and floating charges.

Key points

When an Event of Default is "continuing" is not defined or addressed in the ISDA Master Agreement. Until now it does not appear to have been expressly considered in case law either.

The Supreme Court has handed down its long-awaited judgment in BTI 2014 LLC v Sequana SA [2022] UKSC 25.

Basic facts