Amid all the usual politics of the Government’s Budget this week, one seemingly low-key change might be of considerable interest to lenders and insolvency practitioners. The Chancellor announced that from 6 April 2020 HMRC will once again benefit from a Crown preference.
The Government has announced that it will legislate to prohibit the enforcement of certain contractual termination clauses ('ipso facto clauses').
As with other aspects of the response to recent insolvency and corporate governance consultations, this has given us pause for thought.
Bankruptcy & restructuring
APPLICATIONS FOR LEAVE TO APPEAL DISMISSED
37997 St. James No.1 Inc. v. Ed Vanderwindt, Chief Building Official and City of Hamilton (Ont.)
Municipal law – Heritage properties – Demolition or removal of structure
APPLICATIONS FOR LEAVE TO APPEAL DISMISSED
37906 Michel Guay v. Ville de Brownsburg-Chatham, Municipalité Régionale de Comté d’Argenteuil, Josée Davidson (Que.)
Contracts – Formation – Municipal law
No duty of care owed for negligent bank reference to undisclosed principal
The Supreme Court has held that a bank which negligently provided a favourable credit reference for one of its customers did not owe a duty of care to an undisclosed principal who acted on that reference.
The Government has published its response and action plan following its consultation in March this year on reforming the UK’s corporate governance landscape in the context of insolvent companies.
In its original consultation, the Government put forward various proposals to deal with perceived deficiencies in the management of troubled companies that may be leading to poorer outcomes for creditors, employees and other stakeholders.
There has been a series of high profile tenant company voluntary arrangements (CVAs), particularly in the retail and casual dining sectors. Many landlords have been hit by closure of underperforming stores, and by rent cuts on those remaining open. Here we outline ten points for landlords on what CVAs are, how they are entered into and what landlords can do to protect themselves.
What is a CVA?
A CVA is a statutory process, supervised by an insolvency practitioner. It allows a company in financial difficulty to:
In March 2018, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) published a consultation on proposed reforms to the UK’s insolvency and corporate governance landscape. That consultation included certain significant proposals, including extending liability to the directors of holding companies that sell insolvent subsidiaries.
Early last week PricewaterhouseCoopers Inc., in its capacity as trustee in bankruptcy for Sequoia Resources Corp., filed a statement of claim against Perpetual Energy Inc., attempting to unwind an asset sale from Oct. 1, 2016. Alternatively, PwC is seeking $217-million in damages. Along with Perpetual, PwC has named certain subsidiaries and its CEO, Susan Riddell Rose, as defendants.
In its statement of claim, the plaintiff is relying upon legal principles associated with oppression, reviewable transactions in insolvencies and regulatory law in support of its action.