Between 1 April and 30 June 2023, there were 6,342 registered company insolvencies, which is the highest number of insolvencies since the second quarter of 2009, and a 9% increase on the previous quarter of 2023.

Background

In R (on the application of Palmer) (Appellant) v. Northern Derbyshire Magistrates Court and another (Respondents), the Supreme Court held that an administrator appointed under the Insolvency Act 1986 (IA 1986) is not an "officer" of the insolvent company under section 194(3) of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (TULRCA).

The recent news on the BBC about the rise in insolvencies makes for tough reading. But those who are in business already know how difficult it is out there as they try to weather the trading conditions. Inflationary pressures are increasing the costs of providing goods and services to customers, eroding profitability.

In Bank of Montreal v. Iskenderov, 2023 ONCA 528, the Ontario Court of Appeal held that actions to set aside a conveyance under section 2 of the Fraudulent Conveyances Act are subject to the basic two-year limitation period under the Limitations Act, 2002 – not the ten-year period prescribed by section 4 of the Real Property Limitations Act.

The Law of 7 August 2023 on businesses preservation and modernization of bankruptcy law (the “Law”) will come into force on 1st November 2023. On 19 July 2023, the Luxembourg parliament finally adopted the related draft bill, after more than a decade since the first draft bill (n° 6539) was presented.

On Wednesday, 13 September, the Economy and Fair Work Committee (the "Committee") of the Scottish Parliament heard evidence regarding the general principles of the Bankruptcy and Diligence (Scotland) Bill (the "Bill"). At this stage, the Committee is responsible for examining the Bill and making a recommendation about whether Parliament should support the main purpose of the Bill.

This series looks at the enforcement options available to creditors to recover sums due by a debtor in Scotland. In previous editions we looked at the remedies of Inhibition and Earnings Arrestment.

When seeking to recover arrears under a lease, it is often possible to act to recover funds without the need for a court order. If a lease has been registered for preservation and execution in the Books of Council and Session, a creditor can normally move to instruct Sheriff Officers to recover the funds. This procedure is known as summary diligence and can take several forms.

Dlouho očekávaný zákon o preventivní restrukturalizaci čeká na podpis prezidenta a v následujících dnech nabude účinnosti. Nabídne podnikatelům nové nástroje, jak zavčas řešit své finanční potíže a vyhnout se úpadku.

Dne 23. srpna 2023 schválil Senát návrh zákona o preventivní restrukturalizaci, kterým se značným zpožděním dochází k transpozici směrnice Evropského parlamentu a Rady (EU) 2019/1023 ze dne 20. června 2019 o restrukturalizaci a insolvenci („Zákon“ a „Směrnice“).

In a challenging economic climate, we usually see an increase in leases ending prematurely, either by agreement or by landlords irritating (forfeiting) the lease when they are faced with an insolvent tenant or bad payers. Tenants in these circumstances will often leave behind goods and equipment. The temptation for landlords is just to throw the stuff away so they can re-let but there are restrictions on what a landlord can and can't do with abandoned goods in Scotland.

What should you do if a tenant leaves goods behind at the premises (tenant not insolvent)?