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How should liquidators deal with the administrative burden of adjudicating thousands of low-value proof of debts in a liquidation estate, without exhausting the limited assets available in the liquidation estate? The Grand Court of the Cayman Islands recently approved a pragmatic solution.

Facts

How should liquidators deal with the administrative burden of adjudicating thousands of low-value proof of debts in a liquidation estate, without exhausting the limited assets available in the liquidation estate? The Grand Court recently sanctioned a pragmatic solution.

Introduction

This article first appeared in FIRE magazine.

Introduction

A recently published case has shone a new light on the well-known fact of English company law – that a company has its own legal personality and is therefore separate and distinct from its members and directors.

Thus, a company shields its members and directors from most liabilities. For directors, this protective veil is pierced in certain limited circumstances such as those set out below.

The UK government attempted to ease the financial strain of the COVID-19 pandemic with, among other things, rent "holidays" for tenants and the opportunities for loans for certain businesses. While some businesses were able to avail themselves of such measures, not all were eligible or able to utilise such schemes. It seems that commercial landlords have been one of the sectors that have been hit hard, especially with some commercial tenants not surviving the downturn.

Introduction

In the context of insolvency, the principle of "modified universalism" (Universalism) is defined by Lord Sumption in Singularis Holdings v Prince Waterhouse Coopers as: