UK Supreme Court gives important judgment on directors’ “creditor duty”
The UK Supreme Court in BTI 2014 LLC v Sequana SA and ors [2022] UKSC 25[1] has given an important judgment clarifying the nature of the so-called “creditor duty.” The “creditor duty” is an aspect of the fiduciary duty of directors to act in the interests of their company which requires the directors to take into account the interests of creditors in an insolvency, or borderline insolvency, context.
Summary
The Supreme Court held that when directors know, or ought to know, that the company is insolvent or bordering on insolvency, or that an insolvent liquidation or administration is probable, they must consider the interests of creditors, balancing them against the interests of shareholders where they may conflict. The greater the company’s financial difficulties, the more the directors should prioritise the interests of creditors.
Background
Part I: Introduction and Background Cryptoassets & Insolvency 2 Introduction Cryptoassets have emerged from relative obscurity to become an increasingly significant and mainstream presence: in just five years the global market cap for cryptocurrencies rose from around $15bn to over $3tn at its peak in November of last year.
Introduction
On August 26, Indiana Bankruptcy Court Judge Jeffrey J. Graham issued an order in the bankruptcy cases of Aearo Technologies (“Aearo” and, together with its affiliate debtors, the “Debtors”), denying the Debtors’ motion for a preliminary injunction protecting non-debtor parent 3M Company (“3M”) against a slew of litigation related to hearing-protection devices that were allegedly defective and resulted in hearing loss and related injuries.
...
New developments regarding Spanish pre-insolvency restructuring tools
6 September 2022
The Law 16/2022, of 5 September for the amendment of the Spanish Insolvency Law that transposes Directive 2019/1023 (Directive on restructuring and insolvency) (the Law) has been published today in the Spanish Official Gazette. The Law will enter into force on 26 September 2022 (excluding some articles).
The Law sets out structural reforms in pre-insolvency and insolvency regulations to achieve the following goals:
...
Reestructuraciones de empresas en crisis Novedades en la Ley Concursal espaola
6 de septiembre de 2022
La Ley 16/2022, de 5 de septiembre, de reforma del texto refundido de la Ley Concursal que traspone la Directiva 2019/1023 sobre reestructuraciones e insolvencia (la Ley) ha sido publicada hoy en el BOE. La Ley entrar en vigor el 26 de septiembre de 2022 (salvo alguna excepcin).
La Ley acomete una reforma estructural en el mbito preconcursal y concursal con numerosas novedades y con los siguientes objetivos:
Background of the Act
The UK's latest quarterly company insolvency statistics, published on 2 August, confirm the trends the restructuring community are seeing so far this year and are expecting to continue as we progress through the year.
The recently published Financial Services and Markets Bill (FSM Bill) is intended to recast the U.K.’s regulatory architecture post-Brexit. It was introduced to Parliament on 20 July 2022. The Bill implements the outcomes of the Future Regulatory Framework Review, which assessed whether the U.K.