Unregistered and time-barred foreign judgments can found the basis of insolvency proceedings in England

The English High Court has ruled that unregistered and time-barred foreign judgments can found the basis of insolvency proceedings in England.

The threat of insolvency proceedings can be a strong form of leverage to obtain a successful outcome on enforcement of a judgment debt, as judgment debtors will often pay up when faced with the prospect of being found insolvent.

Foreign money judgments

Insolvency practitioners will welcome the confirmation that they cannot be expected to be aware of same degree of information as if company was still trading

An appellate court judgment will bring comfort to liquidators of insolvent companies in respect of the limitation periods applicable in cases of fraud or deliberate concealment

Many businesses are—or soon will be—unable to meet their obligations. Not all businesses in distress are unsuccessful; sometimes, as in the economic circumstances arising from the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and the governmental directives tailored to address the related public health issues, even successful businesses must confront closures and steep declines in demand that could not have been anticipated, and may find it necessary or desirable to restructure their existing debt obligations.