With the number of retail administrations up 15% in the first quarter of 2012 compared to a year ago (according to research by Deloitte), the recent High Court case of Leisure (Norwich) II Limited v Luminar Lava Ignite Limited (in administration) 28 March 2012 will be of particular interest to landlords.  They will not be pleased with the decision that unpaid rent which falls due prior to the appointment of an administrator/liquidator amounts to an unsecured claim against the insolvent tenant.  It is not to be treated as an expense of the administration/liquidation (and w

USDAW v WW Realisation 1 Limited (in Liquidation)

You probably wouldn't recognise it from the case name but this case results from the closure of the much loved and sorely missed Woolworths.

Employers are obliged to carry out collective consultation with appropriate representatives when proposing to dismiss 20 or more employees from an establishment over a 90-day period: the length of the consultation period is dependent on the number of employees being dismissed. 

As this note goes to press, there is a fresh round of tenant insolvencies.  Administrators are again presenting proposals to landlords that severely reduce their rights to rent and to control who occupies their premises.

We have advised on many such proposals and secured payment of significant sums due to landlords.  Don't just accept terms proposed by administrators before taking advice.

On September 7, 2011, the FDIC announced the launch of a new initiative aimed at encouraging small investors and asset managers to partner with larger investors to participate in the FDIC’s structured transaction sales of assets from failed institutions.

Pursuant to Section 113 of Dodd- Frank aimed at avoiding a repeat of the Lehman Brothers collapse in September 2008, the Federal Stability Oversight Council (“FSOC”) issued a proposed rule establishing a three-stage analysis for identifying non bank systemically important financial institutions.

The Federal Reserve announced the approval of a final rule to implement the Dodd-Frank resolution plan requirement set forth in Section 165(d) (the “Final Rule”). The Final Rule requires bank holding companies with assets of $50 billion or more and nonbank financial firms designated by the Financial Stability Oversight Council to annually submit resolution plans to the Federal Reserve and the FDIC.

A New York State Administrative Law Judge has denied an application for costs and fees filed by a petitioner who had succeeded in substantially reducing the asserted tax liability through settlement. Matter of Frank M. Grillo, DTA No. 823237 (N.Y.S. Div. of Tax App., Nov. 3, 2011). The decision turned on whether the position of the Department of Taxation and Finance was substantially justified, and that, in turn, depended upon whether the Department had used the correct address when it sent the Notice of Determination to the petitioner.

Last month, District Court Judge Shira A. Scheindlin of the Southern District of New York affirmed a bankruptcy court ruling which held that the environmental cleanup obligations of debtor Mark IV Industries, Inc. were not discharged in bankruptcy.2 Given the current legal landscape, Mark IV may make the likelihood of discharging environmental claims even more difficult, potentially undermining chapter 11 as an optimal alternative for companies saddled with environmental liabilities.

On August 9, 2011, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that a non-insider's debt claim can be recharacterized as equity in Grossman v. Lothian Oil Inc. (In re Lothian Oil, Inc.).2 The Fifth Circuit, in reversing the district court, held that: (i) there is no per se rule limiting to insiders the recharacterization of debt claims as equity and (ii) non-insider debt claims may be recharacterized as equity under section 502(b) of the Bankruptcy Code.

The Insolvency Act 1986 makes provision for, amongst other things, bankruptcy and Debt Relief Orders.

When a person is made bankrupt, his property vests in the trustee in bankruptcy. Some items, however, are excluded from the estate, including any assured or secure tenancy (s283). Once a bankruptcy order has been made, no creditor in respect of a debt provable in the bankruptcy may have any remedy against the property of the bankrupt 'in respect of that debt' (s285(3)(a)).