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As of 17 April 2023 new creditors winding up petitions can be presented in accordance with the Insolvency (Amendment) Rules (NI) 2023. This means that the restrictions faced by creditors in filing winding up petitions will be lifted, and ultimately more companies will be open to pursual.

The Supreme Court handed down its judgment on the case of Rakusen v Jepsen on 1 March 2023, deciding that rent repayment orders cannot be made against superior landlords.

The case considered whether rent repayment orders (RROs) under the Housing and Planning Act 2016, could be made against immediate landlords only, or whether superior landlords are also liable. 

In Bartenwerfer v. Buckley, the Supreme Court of the United States resolved confusion in the lower courts over the scope and application of 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(2)(A), which prohibits debtors from discharging debt through bankruptcy when such debt was obtained as a result of fraudulent actions.

This is the third article in our series about sponsor licences. This article focuses on the effect of insolvency on a sponsor licence.

Businesses are facing challenging times in the current economic downturn and insolvency is a real possibility for many, with 5,595 company insolvencies in the third quarter of 2022[1] alone.

If a business is on the brink of insolvency this will potentially have an impact on any sponsorship licences held within the company group. But what are the implications of this and what does it mean for sponsored employees?

On 16th December 2022 the Bankruptcy Master released an update which advised that the restriction on filing new creditors' winding up petitions is likely to be lifted in the new term. The court has advised that further information will be issued to legal practitioners in advance of the new guidance.

In In re Roberts, No. 22-10521, 2022 WL 4592086 (Bankr. D. Colo. Sept. 23, 2022), the Bankruptcy Court of the District of Colorado (the “Bankruptcy Court”) held that a Debtor’s alleged ownership interest in cannabis-related companies did not require a dismissal of the case and that a Chapter 7 trustee could administer the Debtor’s assets. This represents a significant change from prior decisions from this Court, which has usually dismissed any bankruptcy case involving cannabis.

Background

The Supreme Court handed down its long-awaited judgment in BTI 2014 LLC v. Sequana S.A. [2022] UKSC 25 (Supreme Court - BTI v Sequana) concerning the fiduciary duty of directors to act in good faith in the interests of the company.

Houst’s Restructuring Plan was sanctioned last week. It was notable because of its size, that is, the company is very small compared with the financial giants which have used the process so far - and because it used the cram-down facility to overrule HMRC in its status as a secondary preferential creditor.

SMEs and the Restructuring Plan

InBailey Tool & Mfg. Co. v. Republic Bus. Credit, LLC, 2021 Bankr. LEXIS 3502 (Bankr. N.D. Tex. Dec. 23, 2021), the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas clarified how aggressive a secured lender can be when enforcing its rights. The 145-page opinion details how a lending arrangement went “terribly wrong” and why awarding millions in damages was warranted.

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic triggered severe economic shock, particularly in countries like Myanmar that rely heavily on labour-intensive industries. The recent change in the government has added further concerns to the political state of Myanmar. With this recent set of events, we have seen foreign investors and suppliers face difficulty in recovering debts in Myanmar. This Alert sets out actions that may be considered by creditors towards recovering debts from a Myanmar company.

Dispute Resolution