The Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 (the “Act”) came into force on 26 June 2020 and introduces both temporary provisions linked to the coronavirus pandemic and more permanent changes to the insolvency framework. The key measures can be summarised as below.
Temporary measures
Wrongful trading
Guidance for companies and company directors in Northern Ireland.
Overview
The adverse trading position caused by the COVID-19 situation is significantly impacting the majority of companies and is also bringing the duties of directors – particularly those relating to directors’ actions when a company is in difficulty or insolvent – into sharp relief.
With the measures in place to deal with the COVID-19 situation, volatility and disruption continue to affect Northern Ireland. As a leading full-service law firm, Arthur Cox is ideally placed to mobilise multi-disciplinary teams of lawyers to provide advice and support to organisations.
Following a High Court decision of 1 November 2017 , it seems that the High Court will assess an objection by a secured creditor to a personal insolvency arrangement (PIA) differently depending on whether the creditor is a bank (or other originating lender) or a loan purchaser that is not a bank.
In this regular briefing, we summarise recent cases, developments and trends relevant to the ongoing efforts to resolve the mortgage arrears crisis.
CASELAW
Personal Insolvency
A series of recent cases have shed further light on factors that a Court will take into account when hearing a debtor’s appeal of a secured creditor’s decision to reject a proposed Personal Insolvency Arrangement (PIA) under the Personal Insolvency Act 2012 (the 2012 Act).
This briefing summarises recent legislation, cases and trends relevant to ongoing efforts to resolve the mortgage arrears crisis.
Recent Legislation
Recent legal and regulatory developments relevant to the mortgage arrears crisis have included:
On 29 January 2016, the Irish bankruptcy term was reduced from 3 years to 1 year. This Briefing sets out further detail, and summarises recent developments in the area of bankruptcy and personal insolvency.
BACKGROUND:
Irish Bank Resolution Corporation Act and Appointment of Special Liquidators
In the early hours of 7 February 2013, the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation Act 2013 (the “IBRC Act”) was passed. The IBRC Act provides for the Minister for Finance to make a “Special Liquidation Order” (“SLO”) winding up IBRC. As a result of the SLO:
This Briefing contains a general summary of developments and is not a complete or definitive statement of the law. It also updates the Briefing published in July 2012 on the Personal Insolvency Bill. Specific legal advice should be obtained where appropriate.