Cass. Com., 10 mars 2021, n°19-12.825

Dans le cadre d’une procédure de liquidation judiciaire, un liquidateur a assigné directement et conjointement le dirigeant de la société et son assureur pour demander leur condamnation solidaire au paiement de l’insuffisance d’actif des sociétés sur le fondement des articles L. 651-2 du code de commerce et L. 124-3 du code des assurances.

Le 1^er avril 2021, la Cour suprême du Canada a rejeté la demande d’autorisation d’appel de la décision de la Cour d’appel du Québec dans l’affaire Séquestre de Media5 Corporation, 2020 QCCA 943. Par conséquent, les tribunaux du Québec ont maintenant confirmation de la marche à suivre pour la nomination de séquestres nationaux à la demande des créanciers garantis.

Le 20 juillet 2020, la Cour d’appel du Québec annulait la décision rendue par la Cour supérieure et confirmait les principes suivants :

Cass. com., 10 mars 2021, n° 19-22.385

L’article L. 622-24 du Code de commerce est clair : tout mandataire ou préposé du créancier peut effectuer pour le compte de celui-ci une déclaration de créance au passif d’un débiteur à l’encontre duquel une procédure collective a été ouverte.

En effet, cet article prévoit notamment (alinéa 2) que :

On April 1^st, 2021, the Supreme Court of Canada dismissed the application for leave to appeal the decision of the Court of Appeal of Québec in Séquestre de Media5 Corporation, 2020 QCCA 943. As a result, Quebec courts now have clarity regarding their ability to appoint national receivers for secured creditors.

On July 20, 2020, the Court of Appeal overturned the lower court’s decision and confirmed the following principles:

Comments

Following the UK Government extending the restrictions on winding up petitions until 30 June 2021 it is useful to note two recent cases that have considered the coronavirus test that currently applies to winding up petitions.

From 30 April 2021, an administrator will be unable to complete a sale of a substantial part of a company's property to a connected person within the first eight weeks of the administration without either:

• The approval of creditors
• An independent written opinion (positive or negative)

This alert considers the impact of the new regulations in practice, which apply to both pre-packs and post-packs that take place within eight weeks of an administrator's appointment.

Who will the evaluator be?

With fairly swift measure the UK House of Commons approved the 'pre-pack regulations' confirming that, with effect from 30 April 2021, before a pre-pack sale can complete creditor approval or an independent written report from an evaluator will be required.

Will your business be financially viable at the end of lockdown? What challenges does 2021 pose? What are the next steps

The Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 introduced a number of temporary changes to UK insolvency laws last year. Those changes, together with other measures such as the moratorium on forfeiture proceedings have recently been extended, we assume, to avoid the perceived cliff edge of insolvencies that might follow if such measures are brought to an end abruptly.

This note summarises the duties that directors of companies incorporated in England and Wales are subject to.

This note explains those duties, and matters that directors should consider in relation to them, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.