This case concerned the immunity of receivers from claims, where the Court had approved the sale of assets over which they were appointed.

Background

Following a dispute between two shareholders of Blackpool Football Club Limited (BFCL), receivers were appointed by the court over certain assets related to Blackpool Football Club, including the shares held by the majority shareholder in BCFL, Denaxe Limited (Denaxe).

During the marketing process, the receivers concluded the best way forward was to sell the assets as one complete package.

The German Federal Court of Justice (BGH) in its ruling of 12 January 2023 (IX ZR 71/22) clarifies the requirements for proving an 'intent to disadvantage creditors' that it established in its landmark ruling of 6 May 2021.

Background

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.

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?

King v Bar Mutual Indemnity Fund [2023] EWHC 1408 (Ch) deals with a number of bases on which Susan King, James King and Anthony King each applied to set aside statutory demands for £219,700.00 made by the Bar Mutual Indemnity Fund. That sum was payable under an interim costs order made against the Kings by Cockerill J following a successful strike out of conspiracy proceedings. Those in turn arose out of a misrepresentation case.

The question for the court in Durkan & Anor v Jones (Re Nicholas Mark Jones) [2023] EWHC 1359 (Ch) was whether it had jurisdiction to make a bankruptcy order.

Official Receiver v Kelly (Re Walmley Ash Ltd and Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986) [2023] EWHC 1181 (Ch) deals with an application for a disqualification order under s 6 Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986 against Andrew John Kelly arising out of his conduct as a director of Walmsley Ash Ltd which was wound up by the court on an HMRC petition in 2017. The conduct relied on was that:

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