Overview
- The UK Supreme Court issued a recent decision in R (on the application of Palmer) v Northern Derbyshire Magistrates Court and Another [2023] UKSC 38.
- Crucially, the Court determined that an administrator is not an officer of the company within the meaning of the phrase 'any director, manager, secretary or similar officer of the body corporate', for the purpose of section 194(3).
Contents
R (on the application of Palmer) v Northern Derbyshire Magistrates Court and Another [2023] UKSC 38
R (ON THE APPLICATION OF PALMER) V NORTHERN DERBYSHIRE MAGISTRATES COURT AND ANOTHER [2023] UKSC 38
Insolvency practitioners will welcome the Supreme Court’s recent decision that an administrator of a company appointed under the Insolvency Act 1986 (IA) does not fall within the ambit of section 194(3) of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992) (TULRCA) and therefore cannot be held personally liable under criminal law for the company’s failure to give notice to the Secretary of State in accordance with section 193 of TULRCA.
With the passing of the Moveable Transactions (Scotland) Act (MTSA) (likely to pass into law in 2024) the way in which we take security over rights and assets in Scotland will be brought firmly into the 21st century, doing away with the need to rely on statutes from as long ago as 1862 and a smattering of case law which has fostered uncertainty in the market for almost as long.
Restructuring plans under Part 26A of the Companies Act 2006 are a powerful tool for restructuring the debts of a company.
Last week marked another instalment in the notorious insolvency of Comet Group plc (Comet) when the Court of Appeal unanimously set aside the decision of the High Court at first instance which, at the time, was claimed to be the largest successful preference claim in value, resulting in Darty Holdings SAS (successor to Kesa International Ltd (KIL)) being ordered to pay approximately GBP90 million to the liquidators of Comet.
Analysis and Commentary on the Insolvency Statistics Q2 2023
The quarterly insolvency statistics for April to June 2023 show that corporate insolvencies across the UK1 are at a 14-year high.
Increased insolvencies appear to be continuing with the monthly statistics for both August and September 2023, showing corporate insolvency numbers were higher than the same month last year. July’s figures showed a slight decrease year on year.
This week:
Court imposes compensation order on disqualified director
The court has ordered a disqualified director of an insolvent company to pay personal compensation to creditors.
The court orders a disqualified director of an insolvent company to pay personal compensation to creditors.
This is only the second time the courts have considered a personal compensation order against a disqualified director since their introduction in 2015.
What happened?
Secretary of State v Barnsby [2023] EWHC 2284 (Ch) concerned an individual who was the sole director and majority shareholder of a company that sold package holidays.
The Hong Kong Courts exercise supervisory jurisdiction over liquidations in Hong Kong. Recently, the High Court reiterated its role to assist liquidators to effectively discharge their duties, in the best interest of the general body of creditors.
DLA Piper Hong Kong recently represented Dr. Hui Chi Ming as a judgment creditor (Judgment Creditor) and petitioner to a bankruptcy proceeding against Mr. Koon Wing Yee (Debtor). In the judgment of Re Koon Wing Yee [2023] HKCFI 2301, the Court of First Instance made a bankruptcy order against the Debtor because he had failed to show a bona fide dispute on substantial grounds regarding the debt.