When can an insolvency practitioner pursue directors for declaring unlawful dividends?

Does an insolvency practitioner need to demonstrate that the directors knew, or ought to have known, that the dividend was paid unlawfully, or is it a strict liability issue?

Can director/shareholders rely on professionally prepared accounts to avoid liability?

When dealing with a debtor or a tenant that has fallen behind with its payment obligations, one of the most cost effective ways of a creditor/landlord reducing its exposure against that entity will be to take advantage of a “self-help” remedy, such as taking possession of the entity’s assets and selling them in repayment of the sums owed.

However, when the entity is the subject of insolvency proceedings, the availability of the various self-help remedies varies depending on:

In an article that first appeared on LexisNexis on 26 February 2018, Jon Chesman examines a High Court decision which found the applicant liquidator of a company had made out her case that a transfer of stock from the company to the first respondent, a former director of the company, amounted to a preference and a transaction at an undervalue, so relief ought to be granted under the Insolvency Act 1986 (IA 1986).

Breese (liquidator of Flexi Containers Ltd) v Hiley and others [2018] EWHC 12 (Ch), [2018] All ER (D) 77 (Jan)

For the benefit of our clients and friends investing in European distressed opportunities, our European Network is sharing some current developments.

Recent Developments

On 13 July, the Insolvency Service published its annual review of personal insolvency statistics for England & Wales for the 2016 calendar year. That annual review can be accessed here. This blog discusses some of the key findings contained within that report.

On February 1, 2017, the Supreme Court of Singapore and the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware announced that they had formally implemented Guidelines for Communication and Cooperation between Courts in Cross-Border Insolvency Matters (the "Guidelines"). The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York adopted the Guidelines on February 17, 2017.

The Act is a groundbreaking development in Singapore's corporate rescue laws and includes major changes to the rules governing schemes of arrangement, judicial management, and cross-border insolvency. The Act also incorporates several features of chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, including super-priority rescue financing, cram-down powers, and prepackaged restructuring plans. The legislation may portend Singapore's emergence as a center for international debt restructuring.

In Short:

The Action: Courts in Singapore and the states of New York and Delaware have formally implemented Guidelines for Communication and Cooperation between Courts in Cross-border Insolvency Matters.

The Motivation: The Guidelines were developed to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of cross-border insolvency proceedings and to encourage coordination and cooperation among relevant courts.

Looking Ahead: Expect the Guidelines to be implemented in other significant jurisdictions.

On March 10, 2017, Singapore's Parliament approved the Companies (Amendment) Bill 2017 ("Act") to enhance the country's corporate debt restructuring framework. The Act was assented to by President Tony Tan Keng Yam on March 29, 2017, and became effective after it was published in the Singapore Government Gazette on March 30, 2017.

For the benefit of our clients and friends investing in European distressed opportunities, our European Network is sharing some current developments.

Recent Developments