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In a case that is sure to keep lawyers talking for months, the Supreme Court has decided the important case of Bresco Electrical Services Ltd (In Liquidation) v Michael J Lonsdale (Electrical) Ltd.

The case concerns the relationship between the statutory adjudication and insolvency set-off regimes.

The webinar looked at the widely debated issue of whether a company in liquidation can commence an adjudication by examining three recent cases on this topic.

Bresco v Michael J Lonsdale

The first being the Court of Appeal decision in Bresco Electrical Services Ltd (in liquidation) v Michael J Lonsdale (Electrical) Ltd [2019] EWCA Civ 27, which has recently been heard in the Supreme Court but whose judgment is awaited.

Background

The Corporate Insolvency and Governance Bill is currently being fast-tracked through Parliament, but is the Government making a mistake in seeking to combine a short-term breathing space for businesses during the current Covid-19 crisis with introducing the greatest changes we have seen to UK insolvency laws for decades?

The UK Corporate Insolvency and Governance Bill, currently progressing through UK Parliament, will have an impact on various stakeholders in the aviation industry once enacted, due to its moratorium, supply contract, and restructuring plan provisions.

Key Features

The UK Corporate Insolvency and Governance Bill has three key features:

Whilst the government has taken significant steps to help protect businesses from collapsing as a result of the current pandemic, it is evident that companies across the board are acutely aware that such protection cannot last forever.

We now have further evidence of the court's willingness to act within the spirit of the Corporate Insolvency & Governance Bill ("CIG Bill").

Under English law, there is no common law right to terminate a contract on a counterparty’s insolvency. As a result, in all well-drafted commercial contracts it common to see a contractual right to terminate on the event of a party’s insolvency.

While the full extent of COVID-19's effect on the economy remains to be seen, the pandemic will likely create significant restructuring activity for companies already experiencing financial distress and otherwise healthy companies distressed by the pandemic. We have already seen an increase in Chapter 11 filings, and more will follow. 

While the full extent of COVID-19’s impact on the economy remains to be seen, it will likely create significant restructuring activity for companies already experiencing financial distress and otherwise healthy companies distressed by the pandemic. We have already seen an increase in chapter 11 filings, and more will follow.

As the economic effects of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic continue to be felt, Germany’s protective shield proceeding under Section 270b of the Insolvency Code is a way for companies to restructure under the direction of management.