Under Finance Bill 2020, HMRC will move up the insolvency order of hierarchy from unsecured creditor to secondary preferential creditor status in respect of:

Amendments to the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) (Corporations Act) to implement the measures announced by Treasurer Josh Frydenberg on Sunday, 22 March 2020 to provide temporary relief for financially distressed businesses due to COVID-19 have now come into effect.

The Coronavirus Economic Response Package Omnibus Act 2020 (Cth) (CERPO Act) amendments were passed by the Parliament on 2 March 2020. They will apply for a 6 month period, but may be extended or have impacts beyond that timeframe.

Businesses will be considering dramatic changes over the next few days and weeks. The Government last week closed certain business such as pubs, theatres, restaurants and cinemas. Last night, the Government went further and ordered that all non-essential retail businesses and hotels should close and that people should not leave their homes to work unless it absolutely cannot be done from home.

Recent Development

In scope of the various response measures implemented by the Turkish government to prevent the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) in Turkey, the President of the Turkish Republic issued the "Decree to Suspend Enforcement and Bankruptcy Proceedings" on March 22, 2020, in accordance with Article 330, "Suspension In Case of Emergency", of the Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law ("EBL").

What Does the Decision Say?

The Treasurer, the Honourable Josh Frydenberg MP, has today announced proposed temporary changes to Australian corporate insolvency laws which will vary the minimum requirements for statutory demands and provide some relief for directors from insolvent trading. These announcements form part of the Australian Government's measures to support otherwise profitable and viable businesses due to the economic impacts of COVID-19.

What a director wanting to enter the safe harbour must do

Directors in Australia have long had a statutory duty to prevent insolvent trading. The duty is engaged where:

Directors of Australian companies face significant personal monetary − and potential criminal and adverse professional - consequences if they allow the company to trade whilst insolvent.

Australian insolvent trading laws are harsher, and more frequently utilised to prosecute directors personally, than in many other jurisdictions including in the US and the UK.

Accordingly, frequent assessment of a company's solvency by its directors is crucial, particularly in financially difficult times, as are active steps to address any potential insolvency.

These key action points take into account the UK Pensions Regulator's recent statement on COVID-19. Trustees and employers should continue to monitor further updates from the Regulator.

Defined benefit (DB) arrangements

With coronavirus causing unprecedented distress to the whole global economy, all types of business in every sector will be affected. These are not normal times, and it is clear that all businesses will need to formulate coherent action plans to survive. The Government appears to be working on emergency plans to provide help to trade and industry that has already been badly affected by underlying economic uncertainties. More high-street names have closed their doors this week.

It concerns me when I meet with a director of a failing company and he or she simply doesn’t know the various insolvency procedures should their company get into financial difficulties.