The Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 (the “Act”) came into force on 26 June 2020 and introduces both temporary provisions linked to the coronavirus pandemic and more permanent changes to the insolvency framework. The key measures can be summarised as below.

Temporary measures

Wrongful trading

Guidance for companies and company directors in Northern Ireland.

Overview

The adverse trading position caused by the COVID-19 situation is significantly impacting the majority of companies and is also bringing the duties of directors – particularly those relating to directors’ actions when a company is in difficulty or insolvent – into sharp relief.

With the measures in place to deal with the COVID-19 situation, volatility and disruption continue to affect Northern Ireland. As a leading full-service law firm, Arthur Cox is ideally placed to mobilise multi-disciplinary teams of lawyers to provide advice and support to organisations.

Snapshot

The Court of Appeal’s judgment in Jervis v Pillar Denton Limited (Game Station) [2014] EWCA Civ 180 on 24 February 2014 has brought welcome clarity to when rent qualifies as an administration expense.

The Court of Appeal has ruled that:

Summary

On 24 July 2013, the Supreme Court handed down its long-awaited judgment in the Nortel/Lehman case: Re Nortel Companies [2013] UKSC 52. The Court looked at the position where a contribution notice (CN) or financial support direction (FSD) was issued by the Pensions Regulator (TPR) on a company that is already in insolvency proceedings in England (eg administration). How does the relevant obligation rank in the order of priority of payment?

Snapshot

The Supreme Court handed down its long-awaited judgment today in the Nortel/Lehman case on where a contribution notice (CN) or financial support direction (FSD) issued by the Pensions Regulator (TPR) on a company that is already in insolvency proceedings (eg administration) ranks in the order of priority of payment.