The Calcutta Cup represents a long and competitive rugby rivalry between the great neighbours that are Scotland and England. Last year, Scotland retained the trophy in a hard-fought match at Twickenham with victory being sealed in the last minute with a try from Duhan van der Merwe who, being 6ft 4 inches, blond and in the peak of physical health, is a fair representation of your average Scotsman.

Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) is the overarching name given to the different processes used to determine disputes between parties out with a formal court process. ADR is becoming more popular, but is not as widely used by insolvency practitioners (IPs) in the UK to resolve disputes arising from an insolvency event as it perhaps should be.

An individual ceased trading his Scaffolding firm in Sunderland in December 2019 and immediately began employment with a third party; despite which the enterprising former scaffolder thought it would be a good idea in May 2020 to apply for a £50,000 bounce back loan from HM Government in respect of his previous business. Unsurprisingly, the funds were not applied to the Scaffolding business (which had ceased trading) and instead were used to repay third parties.

The recent Accountant in Bankruptcy v Peter A Davies case examines how a family home is dealt with following sequestration of an individual. The sheriff's comments about the case suggest there could be room for improvement in the Bankruptcy (Scotland) Act 1985, to make the process clearer for everyone involved.

Case background

The question of whether or not a trustee in bankruptcy can sell a family home to help recover the debts of an individual varies on a case-by-case basis. The law in Scotland provides protection to a debtor's immediate family, but permission can still be granted to sell the property – if five factors are considered first.

Creditors and Coronavirus

As the scale of the economic impact on businesses and individuals of the Coronavirus pandemic becomes apparent, the Scottish and UK governments have sought to protect companies and individuals from creditor led insolvency events.

Bankruptcy:

Back in the late 1990’s the ubiquitous Katie Price t/a Jordan was at the height of her fame, gracing the pages of our tabloids, gentlemen’s publications such as Loaded and FHM and perhaps the odd bedroom wall of a rather poor Law student. It was reported at the time she had a net worth of around £45million.

In December 2018 with her finances now somewhat diminished, Katie entered into an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (“IVA”) with her creditors. In November this year she was made bankrupt for failing to comply with the same.

(Bankr. S.D. Ind. Dec. 4, 2017)

The bankruptcy court grants the motion to dismiss, finding the defendant’s security interest in the debtor’s assets, including its inventory, has priority over the plaintiff’s reclamation rights. The plaintiff sold goods to the debtor up to the petition date and sought either return of the goods delivered within the reclamation period or recovery of the proceeds from the sale of such goods. Pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 546(c), the Court finds the reclamation rights are subordinate and the complaint should be dismissed. Opinion below.

(Bankr. E.D. Ky. Nov. 22, 2017)

(B.A.P. 6th Cir. Nov. 28, 2017)

The Sixth Circuit B.A.P. affirms the bankruptcy court’s dismissal of the Chapter 12 bankruptcy case. The court finds that the bankruptcy court failed to give the debtor proper notice and opportunity to be heard prior to the dismissal. However, the violation of due process was harmless error. The delay in filing a confirmable plan and continuing loss to the estate warranted the dismissal. Opinion below.

Judge: Preston

Attorney for Appellant: Heather McKeever