The corporate insolvency statistics for Q2 2022 paint a worrying picture for UK businesses. With inflation at a 40-year high, fuelled by soaring gas and electricity bills, food prices and wage increases, the cost of living crisis is taking hold across the economy.

Part 1 of this two-part series explored potential legislative changes which could impact the Australian insolvency landscape in 2022 and beyond. Part 2 addresses the recent major developments in case law that have the potential to shape the insolvency landscape in Australia for many years to come.

On 22 July 2022, judgment was handed down in relation to the sanction of the first Part 26A restructuring plan to be proposed by a small–medium enterprise (SME) in Re Houst Limited [2022] EWHC 1941 (Ch). The restructuring plan (RP) procedure set out in Part 26A of the Companies Act 2006 (CA 2006) has been widely considered to be out of the reach of SMEs due to excessive cost. The decision is also an interesting one for other reasons, notably the cram-down of HMRC as a dissenting creditor.

Today’s insolvency statistics contained few surprises, creditors’ voluntary liquidations (CVLs) have continued to outnumber other types of company insolvencies by some margin and have distorted the overall picture, which is that (putting aside CVLs where directors/shareholders elect to pull the plug themselves on a company’s survival) figures for other types of company insolvencies remain below pre-pandemic figures.

For those who missed it the Insolvency Service published an excellent research report at the end of June which focuses on the treatment of landlords in company voluntary arrangements (CVAs). This was against the backdrop of a large number of "landlord" CVAs in recent years – particularly in the retail and casual dining sectors – where landlords have often complained that they have been unfairly treated compared to other compromised creditors. The report concludes that landlords are, broadly speaking, equitably treated compared to other classes of unsecured creditors.

The Insolvency Service has published an interim report which evaluates three permanent changes to the insolvency regime as introduced by The Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 (CIGA): restructuring plans; the standalone moratorium and the restriction on contractual termination rights (so-called ipso facto clauses). The takeaway messages are as follows:

The recent company insolvency statistics for Q1 2022 show the number of company insolvencies is continuing to increase. The figures show creditors’ voluntary liquidations as being the most common procedure followed by compulsory liquidations – the number of which is more than twice as high as in the previous quarter, although still below pre-pandemic levels.

Financial support for businesses impacted by COVID-19, legislative provisions (such as the statutory relaxation to insolvent trading liability) and general creditor leniency have resulted inhistorically low insolvency appointments during the last two years.

The standalone moratorium has been a seldom used restructuring tool since its introduction under the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020.

The High Court has handed down the long-awaited decision of Stubbings v Jams 2 Pty Ltd [2022] HCA 6, unanimously overturning the decision of the Victorian Court of Appeal. In so doing, the Court held that enforcement of rights under a personal guarantee was unconscionable.