Customers of Amigo loans will have the opportunity to vote at creditor meetings in relation to two alternative scheme proposals, following its recent leave to convene hearing. In a judgment handed down on 15 March, the court gave leave to convene simultaneous creditors' meetings in relation to two schemes - termed the "New Business Scheme" and the "Wind-Down Scheme".

Following the 54% increase in the energy price cap announced by Ofgem on 3 February, and with many predicting that a second substantial increase may be required this October to keep pace with wholesale prices, what is next for beleaguered small energy suppliers?

The FCA has issued proposed guidance on its approach to compromises by regulated firms, which will have the effect of putting consumer outcomes front and centre for any firm proposing a compromise with retail customers. With a particular focus on schemes (or other compromises) relating to redress liabilities - for instance in relation to mis-selling claims - the guidance inevitably recalls many of the aspects of the ill-conceived scheme proposed by Amigo Loans last year, which the High Court ultimately refused to sanction.

• Commercial rent arrears continue to accumulate as a result of the pandemic, such that arrears are estimated to reach £9 billion by March 2022 and comprise a much larger slice of the typical debt stack than they did pre-pandemic.
• The UK government has proposed a binding arbitration scheme to help resolve the arrears and further extend the existing protections from enforcement and insolvency procedures that

In the first three months of 2021, almost 40,000 companies were struck off the Companies House register – an increase of 743% on the same period in 2020. Speculation that these figures related to avoidance of coronavirus-related loan repayments led the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to take the highly unusual step, in March 2021, of making a blanket objection to any application for dissolution by a company with an unpaid bounce-back loan.

A significant rise in criminal prosecutions of company directors indicates that the Insolvency Service is raising the stakes when it comes to pursuing the most egregious cases of wrongdoing. While typically the sanctions for a rogue director would be limited to disqualification proceedings, a small but growing number of directors are finding themselves facing criminal prosecution as a result of Insolvency Service action - with 122 convictions in the year to 30 September, compared to just 40 in the same period for the previous year.

• Brexit ripped up the rules on automatic cross-border recognition of formal insolvency proceedings and restructuring tools between the UK and the EU.
• Recognition will now depend on a patchwork of domestic legislation, private international law and treaties and may lead to different outcomes depending on the jurisdiction.
• Cross-border recognition is still achievable but involves careful navigation and a more tailored approach in individual cases to selection of the most effective process and its route to recognition.

Legal landscape

A bill currently making its way through parliament is intended to enable increased scrutiny of the actions of directors of dissolved companies – and discourage the abuse of the voluntary strike-off procedure as an ‘alternative’ to insolvency proceedings. The measures relating to dissolved companies in the Rating (Coronavirus) and Directors Disqualification (Dissolved Companies) Bill (the “Bill”) have been contemplated for some time, originally raised in the government’s consultation on insolvency and corporate governance in 2018 (the “2018 Consultation”).

Monthly insolvency statistics released by the Insolvency Service indicate that company insolvencies are beginning to return to pre-pandemic levels - a trend which will no doubt be intensified by the partial relaxation of restrictions on winding up petitions at the end of September.

The consequent distress in the market is evident with 9 supplier insolvencies in the last few weeks alone, including Avro Energy, Utility Point and People’s Energy.

Today, 1 October 2021, is important as Ofgem is due to increase tariff caps from that date. This is also the date when the restrictions on petitioning for the winding up of companies on the basis of insolvency will be eased.

Legal landscape – energy regulations

In distressed situations, there are a number of issues to navigate, including: