The Court of Appeal recently considered when precisely a company had given a preference within the meaning of the Insolvency Act 1986 – a question of timing which may impact on whether an insolvency practitioner can later unwind the preferential treatment for the benefit of creditors as a whole.
Here we look at what a preference is, and when it is deemed to be given.
Preferences
On 1 November 2023, the Supreme Court has overturned the 2021 Divisional Court judgment in R (on the application of Palmer) v Northern Derbyshire Magistrates Court and another to hold that administrators do not fall within the meaning of a "director, manager, secretary or similar officer of the company" under s194(3) the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (TULCRA 1992).
The economies of the United States (U.S.) and Canada are closely intertwined. As operations expand across the border, so too do the complexities associated with carrying on business - particularly the insolvency of a company spanning both jurisdictions. As such, understanding how to navigate the complexities of Canadian insolvency regimes is essential to successfully doing business in the country.
Canadian insolvency law currently offers little protection to perishable fruits and vegetable suppliers (Produce Supplier) in the event of an insolvency or bankruptcy of a purchaser of such products.
In a recent decision in the high value bankruptcy of Pramod Mittal (Mr Mittal), the Chancery division considered the rules on service of insolvency applications. The decision underlines the importance of adhering to service rules and giving as much notice as possible of insolvency applications.
The Hong Kong High Court has found that cryptocurrencies are property in a landmark case, further boosting the city’s virtual asset industry and its ambition to become the Asian crypto hub.
In 2015, Justice Wilson-Siegel approved a new form of vesting order, referred to as the "reverse vesting order" (or RVO) as part of the restructuring in Plasco Energy (Re). An RVO is a court order that transfers unwanted assets and liabilities out of a debtor company into a (oftentimes newly incorporated) affiliated company, referred to as "ResidualCo." The debtor company is left holding only the assets and liabilities the purchaser wants to acquire.
In a recent judgment (Durose & Ors v Tagco BV & Ors [2022] EWHC 3000 (Ch)), the Court was asked to decide whether the actions of a private equity investor demonstrated "unfair prejudice". In this insight we cover what steps companies should take in light of the Court's ruling.
The Supreme Court of Canada's ("SCC") recent decision in Peace River Hydro Partners v.
The first High Court decisions in 2023; Metal Manufactures Pty Limited v Morton Metal Manufactures Pty Limited v Morton [2023] HCA 1 (‘Metal Manufactures’) and Bryant v Badenoch Integrated Logging Pty Ltd [2023] HCA 2 (‘Bryant’) have provided the final word on preference claims, establishing once and for all that:
1. set-off under s 553C of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) (‘the Act’) does not apply to unfair transactions; and
2. the peak indebtedness rule does not apply.