Costello J in the High Court recently gave judgment in the case of In re James Coady (a Former Bankrupt) [2017] IEHC 653. In this case the Official Assignee ("OA") had sought directions in respect of what rights could vest in the OA from the bankrupt's pre-retirement personal pension policy (the "PP"). The bankrupt had reached normal retirement age under the PP after he was adjudicated bankrupt but before he was discharged from bankruptcy.

Introduction

There are two principal mechanisms for the dissolution of a solvent Irish company:

• Voluntary Strike-Off (VSO); and
• Members' Voluntary Liquidation (MVL).

To the extent there are other Irish or EU entities in the group, it may also be possible to dissolve the company by way of merger with another group entity.

In Wingview Limited t/a Elphin Public House v Ennis Property Finance DAC the High Court granted an interlocutory injunction prohibiting the defendant from appointing a receiver over Elphin Public House, the Dublin pub which featured in the film "The Van" (1996).

The Court of Appeal recently ruled, in Re KH Kitty Hall Holdings & Ors, that an agreement to restructure and discharge the secured debts of a number of companies by selling certain secured assets was not a bar to the appointment of an examiner to those companies. This was the case despite the fact that the application for the appointment of an examiner was inconsistent with the obligations imposed on the companies under the restructuring agreement and was objected to by the secured creditor.

In Reilly & Personal Insolvency Acts 2012-2015 [2017] IEHC 558, Baker J, 5 October, 2017, the High Court held that applications to Court under Section 115A of the Personal Insolvency Acts 2012-2015 (the Acts), for approval of a Personal Insolvency Arrangement (PIA) despite its rejection by creditors, must be made by a Personal Insolvency Practitioner (PIP) and not by the Debtor themselves.

Baker J in the High Court has given three recent judgments in matters concerning Section 115A(9) of the Personal Insolvency Acts 2012 – 2015 (the Acts). This Section gives a Court power to review and approve a Personal Insolvency Application (PIA) rejected at a meeting of creditors.

Re JD (a debtor) [2017] IEHC 119, High Court, 21 February 2017

In a High Court decision of 22 May 2017 Baker J rejected a proposal by a secured lender to write down a portion of a debtor couple's mortgage debt and warehouse half of the debt as future repayment of the warehoused part of the loan was not predicated on an ability to repay. Thus, the proposal was capable of creating circumstances amounting to insolvency at the end of the mortgage term in approximately 23 years.

Facts

The Irish Government has signed an Order giving the Cape Town Convention Alternative A insolvency remedy force of law in Ireland.

The Cape Town Convention creates an international uniform body of law applicable to interests in aircraft assets for the protection of financiers, lessors and conditional sellers and to establish basic remedies available to them under agreements relating to the aircraft assets.

A petition was recently filed in the High Court on behalf of two companies, Regan Development Limited (“Regan”) and McGettigan Limited (“McGettigan”) seeking the protection of the court pursuant to the Companies Act 2014 (the "Act"), and the appointment of an Examiner. Regan owns and operates the Regency Hotel on the Swords Road in Dublin and McGettigan owns and operates a licensed premise on Queen Street, Dublin 7 and four retail units in Bray, Co. Wicklow. On presentation of the petition the Court appointed Neil Hughes of Baker Tilly Hughes Blake as Interim Examiner.