It is no secret anymore that the MiCA (Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation) is coming. But why is this important for insolvency practitioners and clients? This update aims to give an answer to this question and to provide an outlook on how the German legislator plans to implement these principles.

The High Court has considered the point at which the directors’ duty to consider the interests of creditors arose in the context of a tax mitigation scheme that ultimately failed

The judge found that the duty to consider creditors’ interests had arisen once the directors had become aware that there was a real risk that the scheme would fail and that the company would therefore be unable to pay its debts.

Yesterday, the Supreme Court (SC) handed down judgment in Philipp v Barclays Bank UK Plc [2023] UKSC 25. In summary, the SC found that banks do not owe a duty to refrain from executing customers’ direct payment instructions where there may be an attempt to defraud the customer.

On 7 July 2022, the UK Government published a consultation on changing UK law to implement two model laws in the field of insolvency that have been adopted by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL). These are:

A company must apply for insolvency in Germany if it is either illiquid and/or over-indebted. Illiquidity must be confirmed where the debtor is not capable of meeting at least 90 % of all claims with its liquid assets within 3 weeks (section 17 of the German Insolvency Code).

Real estate assets – effect on liquidity

The Court of Appeal in Braunschweig has recently considered whether a debtor was insolvent due to illiquidity where it owned extensive real estate assets.

The English Court of Appeal has widened the scope of transactions defrauding creditors under section 423 of the Insolvency Act 1986 in a recent case, Invest Bank PSC v El-Husseini and others (Invest Bank).

Under s.423, the court will only make an order if it is satisfied that a transaction at an undervalue was entered into by a debtor for the purpose of putting assets beyond the reach of a person who may make a claim against them or otherwise prejudicing their interests in relation to such claim.

Companies are under increasing pressure to examine their ESG policies, particularly after the recent COP26 conference. The UK's commitment to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 has intensified the ESG focus.

What is ESG?

ESG, or Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance, is a term used to describe a set of standards that measures a business' environmental and social impact.

Why is ESG important in a distressed restructuring?

The Court of Appeal in Hunt v Ubhi has confirmed that insolvency practitioners seeking freezing orders are subject to the default requirement of providing an unlimited cross-undertaking in damages.

The English tax authority, HMRC, has successfully challenged the restructuring plans put forward by The Great Annual Savings Company Limited (GAS) and Nasmyth Group Limited (Nasmyth).

This is the first time that HMRC has actively challenged restructuring plans at the sanction hearing. The key takeaways from the judgments:

Nasmyth

Background

The impact of the opening of insolvency proceedings on options granted in combined contracts (for example, a lease contract containing a call option for the leased real estate) had been in dispute for a long time.

Decision

The Austrian Supreme Court held that call options granted in lease contracts where the option fee has been paid do not expire with the opening of insolvency proceedings, nor are they subject to the right of the insolvency administrator to terminate the lease contract.