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Two recent Supreme Court of Canada decisions demonstrate that the corporate attribution doctrine is not a one-size-fits-all approach.

The English High Court has, for the first time, ordered that security for costs be provided by the plan company in favour of a creditor.

Background

Consort was a contractor under a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) for the development of new hospital facilities for an NHS Trust. It proposed a restructuring plan, primarily directed at compromising its liabilities under the PFI project agreement.

Following the launch of its public consultation in October 2023, the UK Jurisdiction Taskforce has now published its latest Legal Statement on the treatment of Digital Assets under English insolvency law.

Key conclusions

Summary

In the first appeal of a restructuring plan under Part 26A Companies Act 2006, the English Court of Appeal unanimously set aside the first instance decision sanctioning the plan proposed by AGPS BondCo PLC, part of the Adler real estate group1.

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.

The UK Jurisdiction Taskforce has launched a new public consultation on the treatment of digital assets in English insolvency law.

Crypto assets are 'property'

In November 2019, the UKJT published its seminal legal statement on the status of crypto assets and smart contracts. Since then, there has been widespread acceptance that crypto assets are 'property' for the purposes of English law. And the Law Commission has recently proposed a new, third category of personal property rights to capture digital assets.

Impact on insolvency law

Summary

Trustees and officeholders (such as administrators, receivers and liquidators) can ask the Court to approve steps that they propose to take in the administration of their estate (such as the sale of an asset or settlement of a claim).

The Court1 exercised its discretion to sanction a restructuring plan proposed by AGPS BondCo PLC (the Company) (part of the Adler real estate group) to amend indebtedness arising under six series of senior unsecured notes governed by German law, which matured on different dates through to 2029.