Two recent Supreme Court of Canada decisions demonstrate that the corporate attribution doctrine is not a one-size-fits-all approach.
Across 2023, the rate of corporate insolvencies in England and Wales fluctuated but trended significantly higher than the previous year, peaking in an especially tumultuous November. Turning from statistics to the news headlines, it was striking but perhaps not surprising to see many household name businesses forced into administration.
ChatGPT was launched less than 18 months ago. This relatively brief period feels like a lifetime, considering the seismic changes to date which are likely only the start.
The concept of an ‘insolvent trust’ is somewhat of a paradox. A trust is not a separate legal entity in the way that companies are and, as such, cannot be insolvent in the technical sense. Trustees legally own assets in a trust for the benefit of beneficiaries.
Court approval of a sale process in receivership or Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (“BIA”) proposal proceedings is generally a procedural order and objectors do not have an appeal as of right; they must seek leave and meet a high test in order obtain it. However, in Peakhill Capital Inc. v.
In the final statistics release of this year, the Insolvency Service confirmed that there were 2,466 registered company insolvencies in November 2023 (the December figures will be released early in 2024). Not only was this 21% higher than in the previous November, but 7% higher than the figures in October 2023.
The company insolvencies in November 2023 included:
As the ‘slow crush’ of persistently high interest rates bites, businesses of all kinds are struggling and many are reaching the point of failure, as indicated by each month’s number of creditors’ voluntary liquidations (CVLs) charting higher than the same period a year prior. The latest statistics from The Insolvency Service reveal that registered company insolvencies in October 2023 were 18% higher than in the same month in 2022.
On 26 September 2023, our Insolvency and Asset Recovery team hosted a seminar explaining the emerging and developing types of disputes focussed on insolvent estate recoveries.
The court-fashioned doctrine of "equitable mootness" has frequently been applied to bar appeals of bankruptcy court orders under circumstances where reversal or modification of an order could jeopardize, for example, the implementation of a negotiated chapter 11 plan or related agreements and upset the expectations of third parties who have relied on the order.
Section 423 of the Insolvency Act 1986 (s423) provides for the avoidance of transactions intended to put assets out of the reach of creditors or otherwise prejudice their interests. It is one of the most effective weapons in global asset recovery scenarios and is widely used. Partner Tim Symes, associate Jack Barlow and paralegal Bruno Ponte consider the proof needed to get home on an s423 claim, consider some recent caselaw and provide examples of what a court might order if a claim is successful.