The latest government insolvency statistics highlight that the downturn in the UK economy is still taking a significant toll and the number of UK corporate insolvencies in February 2024 remains high (and 17% higher compared to February 2023).
Latest insolvency statistics
February 2024 saw 2,102 company insolvencies, the highest February figures for at least four years.
In a departure from prior precedent in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York (SDNY), a recent opinion by Judge Michael E. Wiles in In re Cortlandt Liquidating LLC,[1] effectively lowered the Bankruptcy Code section 502(b)(6) cap on rejection damages that a commercial real estate landlord may claim, by holding that the cap should be calculated using the “Time Approach,” rather than the “Rent Approach.”
Calculation of Lease Rejection Damages
It is widely anticipated that the next twelve months could be a challenging period for many businesses in the UK and that there could be a significant rise in the number of companies in financial distress.
Where this is the case, the directors of those companies will need to be increasingly mindful of the duties they have to the company's creditors, as well as to its shareholders.
The March 2023 banking crisis has been an unexpected “stress test” for dealing with liquidity issues.
When state regulators closed Silicon Valley Bank this past Friday, many startups understandably faced severe liquidity issues triggered by the sudden and unexpected loss of access to their deposits.
In this chapter of our Annual Insurance Review 2023, we look at the main developments in 2022 and expected issues in 2023 for restructuring and insolvency.
Key developments in 2022
Corporate insolvencies have been rising sharply in 2022 albeit against the backdrop of record low insolvency filings during the pandemic. By June, they had reached their highest quarterly level since 2009 and the depths of the global financial crisis.
On January 4, 2023, Judge Glenn of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York issued a much-awaited decision in the Celsius Network LLC (along with its affiliated debtors, “Celsius” or the “Debtors”) chapter 11 cases relating to the ownership of crypto assets deposited by customers in the Celsius “Earn” rewards program accounts.
Over the span of two weeks in July 2022, two of the largest retail-facing cryptocurrency platforms, Celsius and Voyager, filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
In New York, it is a standard practice to name all tenants residing in a building when foreclosing upon the property.
Background to the Restructuring Plan
The UK has introduced the Restructuring Plan; a new, flexible court supervised restructuring tool. The Restructuring Plan draws upon features of the existing Companies Act 2006 scheme of arrangement procedure (which remains available) but includes features which are new to the UK but similar to those under U.S. Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings.
In this chapter of our Annual Insurance Review 2021, we look at the main developments in 2020 and expected issues in 2021 for restructuring and insolvency.
Key developments in 2020
The Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 came into force on 26 June 2020. The changes introduced by that Act were some of the most significant made to English insolvency law for decades.