The Alberta Court of Appeal (the “ABCA”)’s anticipated decision in Manitok Energy Inc (Re), 2022 ABCA 117 (“Manitok”) confirmed that the sales proceeds of a debtor estate’s valuable petroleum and natural gas assets that are subject environmental claims including, notably, abandonment and reclamation obligations, must first be applied to abandonment and reclamation obligations, even where such assets are “unrelated” to the abandonment and reclamation obligations.

The collapse of fashion retailer Missguided has prompted official complaints to the Insolvency Service from suppliers who have alleged that the online brand continued trading and ordering new supply despite the prospect of insolvency. Alex Jay spoke to the Guardian and Yahoo! Finance about what the retailer going into administration could mean for suppliers, and the potential for legal action.

Overview and Why This Case Matters

Alex Jay, Tim Symes, Charlie Mercer and Aleks Valkov consider a recent decision relating to alleged transactions defrauding creditors under section 423 of the Insolvency Act 1986 (“s423”). Stewarts act for the fifth, sixth and eighth defendants.

Environment, social, and governance (ESG) are factors directors, investors, industries, and governments increasingly focus on when making commercial decisions. This is particularly so given increasing public awareness of such issues following recurrent environmental disasters and international summits such as COP26. Tim Symes and Ryan Hooton review the current regulatory environment in the UK, how it might bite on a company’s insolvency and when directors may find themselves personally liable for their actions.

Chris Corbin and Jeremy King, part owners of the company that owns the famous Wolseley restaurant had their company pushed into administration by its co-owner and major lender, having been in default since 2020, and now owes £38m. Administration might not have come as a surprise to anyone in that case.

However, directors and shareholders will not usually get anything like as much notice of a lender’s intention to appoint administrators and will frequently get none at all, as  Insolvency and Asset Recovery Partner Tim Symes explains here.

With many businesses headed towards a ‘winter of discontent,’ dealing with a combination of the after effects of Covid19 related disruption, supply chain issues, soaring inflation and labour shortages, we are undoubtedly going to see a continued rise in insolvencies over the coming months which will emerge in many different and often unpredictable forms.

What could happen this winter?

In the matter of the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act ("CCAA") of SM Group, the Supreme Court of Canada rendered a decision regarding compensation in CCAA proceedings. The court ruled that a creditor's right to pre-post compensation under civil or common law may be stayed by a court pursuant to sections 11 and 11.02 of the CCAA.

Dans l’affaire de la Loi sur les arrangements avec les créanciers des compagnies (« Lacc ») relative à Groupe SM, la Cour suprême du Canada prononce une décision sur la compensation dans le cadre de procédures en vertu de la Lacc.

Alex Jay, Head of Insolvency and Asset Recovery, discusses how companies can protect themselves from rising insolvency risks as businesses begin to emerge from the pandemic and commercial pressure increases.

Insolvency risk can affect businesses and individuals in a number of ways.  Markets can turn rapidly – think for example of the recent spate of energy company failures – and can catch you off guard.