For anyone thinking of donating antiques or other valuable gifts to be part of a museum collection there is a moral to follow: beware how you give and to who you give it to! This was never better demonstrated than in the example of the Wedgwood collection and the case of the disappearing museum.

Tiuta International Ltd (In Liquidation) v De Villiers Surveyors Ltd [2017] UKSC 77

Overview

Carillion was perhaps best known for its public sector work. However, the insolvency of the UK’s second-largest construction company will inevitably have significant implications for the private sector.

On February 27, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling that will make it easier for bankruptcy trustees, creditors’ committees, and other bankruptcy estate representatives to claw back payments made to shareholders in leveraged buyouts and dividend recapitalizations.

Constructive Fraudulent Transfer Claims and the Securities Safe Harbor

Question

My client is buying a property from a receiver appointed under an equitable charge granted by a company which has become insolvent. The charge gives a receiver a power of sale and contains a power of attorney. Will the receiver be able to sign all the necessary documents to allow the transaction to proceed to completion?

Answer

(1) Timothy Crowden and (2) Carol Crowden v. QBE Insurance (Europe) Limited [2017] EWHC 2597 (Comm)

Summary

This case involved a claim in respect of negligent investment advice brought directly against the insurer of an insolvent financial adviser, pursuant to the Third Parties (Rights against Insurers) Act 1930 (the “1930 Act”).

The insurer successfully relied on an insolvency exclusion clause contained within the insolvent adviser’s professional indemnity policy in order to deny liability to the claimants.

Case Facts

Global Corporate Limited v Dirk Stefan Hale [2017] EWHC 2277 (Ch) 

Summary

A recent judgment re-iterates the importance of carefully drafting a deed of assignment when assigning claims.

In Global Corporate, the liquidators of a company assigned certain claims by way of a deed of assignment to Global Corporate Limited (the “Assignee”). The Assignee (the Applicant in this case) then brought several claims against the company’s former director and shareholder.

Re Diffraction Diamonds DMCC [2017] EWHC 1368 (Ch)

This case deals with the English Court’s jurisdiction to wind up foreign companies, on the grounds of public interest. While it does not create new law, it is a helpful review of the authorities, particularly Re Titan International Inc [1998] 1 BVLC 102 (“Titan”).

Case Facts

On June 27, 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear an appeal brought by Ropes & Gray of the Fourth Circuit’s decision in PEM Entities LLC v. Eric M. Levin & Howard Shareff. The Supreme Court’s decision in the case will have significant implications for business owners making debt investments, including rescue loans, and purchasing the distressed third-party debt of their companies.

This case raised the issue of when a company in financial distress (or the directors of that company) should issue a Notice of Intention to Appoint an Administrator (“NOITA”) which affords a moratorium under Schedule B1 of the Insolvency Act 1986 (“IA86”).