Las medidas que ahora se ven reforzadas o modificadas tienen su origen en el Real Decreto-ley 16/2020, de 28 de abril –del que Garrigues ya se hizo eco en esta publicación–, que fue posteriormente sustituido por la
In the first three months of 2021, almost 40,000 companies were struck off the Companies House register – an increase of 743% on the same period in 2020. Speculation that these figures related to avoidance of coronavirus-related loan repayments led the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to take the highly unusual step, in March 2021, of making a blanket objection to any application for dissolution by a company with an unpaid bounce-back loan.
A significant rise in criminal prosecutions of company directors indicates that the Insolvency Service is raising the stakes when it comes to pursuing the most egregious cases of wrongdoing. While typically the sanctions for a rogue director would be limited to disqualification proceedings, a small but growing number of directors are finding themselves facing criminal prosecution as a result of Insolvency Service action - with 122 convictions in the year to 30 September, compared to just 40 in the same period for the previous year.
A bill currently making its way through parliament is intended to enable increased scrutiny of the actions of directors of dissolved companies – and discourage the abuse of the voluntary strike-off procedure as an ‘alternative’ to insolvency proceedings. The measures relating to dissolved companies in the Rating (Coronavirus) and Directors Disqualification (Dissolved Companies) Bill (the “Bill”) have been contemplated for some time, originally raised in the government’s consultation on insolvency and corporate governance in 2018 (the “2018 Consultation”).
Monthly insolvency statistics released by the Insolvency Service indicate that company insolvencies are beginning to return to pre-pandemic levels - a trend which will no doubt be intensified by the partial relaxation of restrictions on winding up petitions at the end of September.
Rogue directors will find themselves in the firing line if and when The Rating (COVID-19) and Directors Disqualification (Dissolved Companies) Bill, which is currently making its way through parliament, comes into force. The proposed bill will enable the investigation and potential disqualification of directors of dissolved companies, and responds in particular to concerns around COVID-related fraud.
Background
Following a government announcement on 16 June, the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 (Coronavirus) (Extension of the Relevant Period) (No. 2) Regulations 2021 (the Regulations) have been laid before Parliament, coming into force on 22 June.
Selección de las principales resoluciones en materia de reestructuraciones e insolvencias.
Suspensión de la junta general extraordinaria hasta la designación y aceptación del cargo por la administración concursal
Auto del Juzgado de lo Mercantil núm. 3 de Sevilla de 26 de febrero de 2021 (asunto “Abengoa”)
Selection of the main restructuring and insolvency judgments.
Suspension of special shareholders’ meeting until insolvency receiver’s appointment and acceptance of that appointment
Decision by Seville Commercial Court No 3 on February 26, 2021 (“Abengoa” case)
On January 22, 2021 Madrid's commercial court judges approved a set of agreed procedures for handling insolvency proceedings in which liquidation is requested together with the insolvency order, as well as a number of criteria for transfers of productive units in these and other insolvency processes.