Directors have a duty to act in the best interests of the company. A director has the following general duties under the Companies Act 2006:

It is widely known that COVID-19 imposes immediate difficulties on many companies to pay their bills, and – equally – to collect their own outstanding invoices. Below, we discuss the most commonly expected complications against the background of enforcement, leniency provisions and – if worst comes to worst – insolvency in the Netherlands.

Government measures (emergency aid)

Our lives have changed completely in a few days due to COVID-19 and the world’s response to it. Governments react with a multitude of regulations, which have a considerable influence on the economy especially for the Retail & Consumer sector. This affects very different areas of law. Our sector approach consists, among other things, of showing you the legal consequences in the most diverse legal areas and our contact persons for this.

In order to protect German companies and their employees against the economic impact of the coronavirus, the German government has resolved on 23 March 2020 on a comprehensive set of measures. It is the largest government support programme which was ever enacted in Germany. These measures even go beyond the support organized by the government during the financial crisis. The goal of this “protective shield” is to provide businesses with sufficient liquidity to help them make it through the crisis.

As the Novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic continues to spread across the globe, people and businesses are facing unprecedented challenges, both immediate and strategic. Governments in various jurisdictions have announced various measures to try to alleviate the distress caused by the numerous issues that have arisen and continue to arise, particularly around cashflow and employees.

Het COVID-19 virus heeft ook vergaande gevolgen voor de toegankelijkheid van overheidsrechtspraak en alternatieve vormen van geschilbeslechting in Nederland. In dit artikel vertellen we u welke maatregelen er tot op heden zijn getroffen en wat de consequenties daarvan zijn voor zowel lopende als nieuwe zaken.

Sluiting van gerechtsgebouwen

The Australian Financial Review recently published an article regarding requests to the Australian Government to impose a moratorium on the insolvent trading laws to "help businesses during the economic downturn".

In the case of Wilson v McNamara [2020] EWHC 98 (Ch) the High Court of England and Wales (the Court) considered whether the EU principle of freedom of establishment requires that a pension held in another EU member state (Ireland) should be excluded from a bankruptcy estate under UK law in the same manner as a UK pension would be in a UK bankruptcy. Mr Justice Nugee decided in order to decide the case the Court needed to refer a preliminary reference to the European Court of Justice (CJEU) on a question of EU law.

A recent English Court of Appeal decision has held that legal advice privilege, once established, remains in existence unless and until it is waived. Whether there is no one to waive it; or whether the Crown could have waived it but has not done so; does not matter.

What was the Background to the Case?

A recent decision of Justice Rees of the Supreme Court of New South Wales confirms the importance of keeping proper financial books and records in the context of insolvency.