In Short

The Situation: Insolvency officeholders increasingly find their investigations into a company's affairs frustrated by the comingling of records on a "group" server. Claims to privilege by other group entities (or even third parties) are then advanced as an obstacle to delivering company records to the officeholder, leading to expensive and logistically complex inspection and review processes that can be a burden on insolvent estates.

In these difficult economic times, companies seeking additional liquidity may turn to alternative sources of financing. Companies with assets that can be monetized (e.g., accounts receivable, intellectual property, real estate, equipment, etc.) may discover a number of options available to them. In particular, accounts receivable financing may be an attractive way for certain companies to obtain working capital relatively quickly.

In Brief

On 1 August 2016, six years after it received Royal Assent, the UK Third Parties (Rights Against Insurers) Act 2010 (the "2010 Act") will finally come into force. It is expected to provide an effective mechanism for third-party claimants to seek recovery directly from an insolvent defendant's liability insurers.

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