The Pension Protection Fund (PPF) is reviewing its insolvency risk model with Experian. The proposals being considered are particularly relevant to the financial services and charity sectors. It is proposed they be introduced from 2018/2019 (and will not be part of the draft levy rules and levy estimate for 2017/18, which we expect will contain few changes).
In summary, the PPF is considering:
The Court of Appeal has recently considered the status of contingent assets within the balance sheet test for insolvency in the context of a company’s inability to pay its debts. Under Section 123 Insolvency Act 1986, a company is deemed unable to pay its debts if its assets are less than its liabilities including contingent liabilities but nothing is said about the status of contingent assets.
Until recently the oil and gas sector has not been on the restructuring communities radar. However, last year global oil prices hit an all-time low, which led to a record number of insolvencies in the industry. Consequently in conjunction with Lexis Nexis we have produced the Guide to insolvency in the UK oil and gas industry.
The UK’s EU Referendum on membership is looming on the horizon – What are the legal implications of a so-called “Brexit” for restructuring and insolvency professionals?
The EU Referendum Act 2015 obtained Royal Assent on 17 December 2015 and provides for the following question to be put forward for voting in a referendum in the UK until the end of 2017: “Should the United Kingdom remain a member of the EU or leave the EU?”
The director at the heart of the Carrington Wire pension fund deficit saga has been disqualified for a period of 12 years.
Background
The recent TMA Global Annual Conference in Scottsdale Arizona gave us a great opportunity to meet with friends and colleagues old and new and swap intel and war stories! The buzz at the conference was around the oil and gas sector. Drilling down: Turmoil in Oil and Gas was the panel moderated by our very own Michael Cuda. It created immediate and ongoing comment, not just at the conference but also in the wider media. See web link from
In March 2014 the European Commission issued a Recommendation considering a new approach to business failure and insolvency, targeting efficient restructuring of viable enterprises in financial difficulty and a second chance for honest entrepreneurs.
KEY POINTS
Over the last seven months there has been a spate of cases dealing with the relationship between arbitration law and insolvency law.
Winding-up petitions and arbitration clauses
In February this year, Squire colleagues Paul Muscutt and Helen Kavanagh wrote about the Carrington Wire Defined Benefit Pension Scheme, where the UK Pensions Regulator accepted a payment of £8.5m to settle warning notices of £17.7m issued to Russian companies that had guaranteed sums due from Carrington Wire to the Scheme (“the Guarantee”).