In a recent judgment, the Polish Supreme Court resolved an important question concerning the rights of a creditor to bring legal proceedings after the initiation of bankruptcy proceedings by a debtor.
Legal issue
The Supreme Court considered whether the declaration of a debtor's bankruptcy results in the loss of a creditor's standing to bring a lawsuit to declare a debtor’s attempt to dissipate its assets ineffective (actio pauliana).
What is actio pauliana?
It has been just over a year since the introduction of Poland's new electronic insolvency procedure. The new procedure, introduced on 1 December 2021, is generally conducted via an online platform, the National Debtors’ Register, and has brought about a revolutionary change to Polish insolvency procedure.
Positive developments
Faster access to the court - Documents filed on the online platform are instantly disclosed to the judge and to the other parties involved. The court’s decisions are also delivered quickly to the parties.
The facts
A liquidator pursued a claim against a former director of a company, that the transfer of the company’s trading inventory in satisfaction of money owed to the former director was a transaction at an undervalue and/or a preference.
An attempt was made to grant floating charge security over the inventory, which the court found was void as it was granted for existing liabilities, at a time when the company was insolvent, to a connected party.
The Facts
A liquidator applied for permission to amend his claim for fraudulent trading. The claim against the respondents related to purported defrauding of HMRC for non-payment of VAT.
The facts
The Applicant granted two guarantees to a bank in 2006 and 2007 in respect of two facility letters. The bank assigned the Second Facility and the benefit of the First Guarantee to the Respondent. The amounts due under the Second Facility fell due for payment on 31 March 2008 and were only demanded for payment in 2015.
The Facts
In between the presentation of a winding up petition and making of a winding up order, a company entered into a settlement agreement with the Respondent, who founded the company and was previously a shareholder and director of the company.
The Decision
The facts
A former bankrupt had purported claims against a firm of solicitors arising pre-bankruptcy, which vested in his subsequently appointed trustee in bankruptcy. The debtor wrote to both the Official Receiver (OR) and, post appointment, the trustee in bankruptcy, offering to buy the claims. The trustee subsequently disclaimed the claims. The debtor alleged that the claims had already re-vested in him following his notice to both the trustee and the OR.
Summary
Liquidators of a company pursued proceedings against the former administrators/liquidators of the company (Messrs White and Wood) alleging negligent and deliberate/dishonest overcharging of fees.
The facts
The Facts
A former director of the Torex group of companies pursued proceedings against the group’s administrators, bankers and the purchaser claiming that the sale had been at an undervalue, that the bank and purchaser conspired by unlawful means in respect of the sale and that the administrators had been negligent in distributing the prescribed part. The administrators, bank and purchaser all applied to strike out the claims by way of summary judgment.
Claims Against Administrators