Unless the Article 50 period is extended yet again, the UK is currently set to leave the EU on 31 October 2019 at 11pm GMT. However, if the Withdrawal Agreement is ratified, the impact of Brexit will, for most purposes, be postponed due to the transition period. This transition period is currently set to end on 31 December 2020. The Withdrawal Agreement provides that during transition, the UK would continue to be treated as if it were still an EU member for the purposes of a range of directly application EU legislation which is core to the smooth running of financial transactions.

This page was updated on 8 January 2021.

This is an amended version of an article which was first published on LexisPSL.

The COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic triggered – in addition to health and human tragedies – the most serious economic crisis since World War II. This economic crisis has led to financial difficulties for many German companies – especially in the tourism, gastronomy, aviation, hotel, culture and event sectors. COVID-19 also affects the overall economic development in many other sectors.

Introduction

The UK Government has reintroduced the temporary suspension of wrongful trading measures from 26 November 2020 until 30 April 2021 pursuant to The Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 (Coronavirus) (Suspension of Liability for Wrongful Trading and Extension of the Relevant Period) Regulations. The suspension was originally introduced in March 2020 under section 12 of the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 and expired on 30 September 2020.

The onset of COVID-19 has precipitated and accelerated substantial change for businesses in fashion retail, adding to particular headwinds already facing the sector in the UK. While many brick-and-mortar fashion retailers were already experiencing challenging trading conditions at the start of 2020 – ranging from rent and rates overheads to increased online competition – restrictions on and changes to consumer preferences resulting from the pandemic have intensified the challenges facing many fashion retailers and businesses operating in the supply chain.

From 1 December 2020 new changes to the priority rules in insolvency will have a real impact on the recoveries achieved by secured creditors on the insolvency of a debtor. These new rules give HMRC priority above floating charge holders and ordinary unsecured creditors in relation to tax collected by an insolvent company from third parties, such as VAT, PAYE income tax and NICs.

On 17 October 2020 the coronavirus amendments¹ came into effect after being signed by the President of Ukraine. The amendments temporarily change the Code on Bankruptcy Proceedings to protect Ukrainian businesses and mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

With effect from 17 October 2020, throughout the quarantine period and 90 days thereafter, the following changes will apply to the bankruptcy process:

On 17 October 2020 the coronavirus amendments¹ came into effect after being signed by the President of Ukraine. The amendments temporarily change the Code on Bankruptcy Proceedings to protect Ukrainian businesses and mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

With effect from 17 October 2020, throughout the quarantine period and 90 days thereafter, the following changes will apply to the bankruptcy process: