The English Court of Appeal in Re Debenhams Retail Ltd [2020] EWCA Civ 600 recently considered the inter-relationship between the UK Government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and the ‘adoption’ of employment contacts by administrators under the Insolvency Act 1986.  The issue was whether by paying only the amounts which may be claimed under the Scheme to furloughed employees, the administrators have adopted the contracts.  Adoption means that the wages and other entitlements are payable as expenses of the administration ahead of other expenses.  

The Federal Court of Australia in Strawbridge (Administrator), in the matter of CBCH Group Pty Ltd (Administrators Appointed) (No 2) [2020] FCA 472 has made orders to release the administrators of retailer The Colette Group (the Group) from personal liability for rent for a two-week period during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The Federal Court of Australia in Frisken, in the matter of Avant Garde Investments Pty Ltd v Cheema [2020] FCA 98 has considered a dispute between a receiver and the director of the company as to whether the provisional liquidator, Mr Banerjee, should be appointed as the liquidator. 

The director sought the appointment of different liquidators on the basis that Mr Banerjee’s conduct as provisional liquidator was such that a reasonable person might apprehend that he might not be impartial as liquidator. 

The Government has published the COVID-19 Response (Further Management Measures) Legislation Bill (the Bill), an omnibus bill containing amendments (both temporary and permanent) to several acts. These amendments aim to both assist organisations in effectively managing the “immediate impacts of the response to COVID-19”, as well as mitigating some of the pandemic’s “unnecessary and potentially longer-term impacts on society”.

Applying for permission to advance fresh evidence on appeal is a tricky application, which has had varying degrees of success in the courts. Zheng Yougxiong v Gate Ventures Plc⁽¹⁾ is a useful example of the application of the criteria, albeit in the context of insolvency proceedings.

Background

Mr Zheng was a shareholder in, and creditor of, Gate Ventures plc. He sought and failed to obtain an administration order against Gate Ventures plc on the basis of a £2.5 million debt (the First Application).

This note discusses two recent decisions of the Court of Appeal of Singapore that dealt with the standard of review to be applied in winding up proceedings where a debtor asserts that there is a dispute which parties agreed to resolve by way of arbitration.

Winding up proceedings

It is quite often that we see contracts providing for disputes arising under the contract to be resolved by way of arbitration.

Click here to watch the video.

On Friday 24 April, RPC hosted a 30 minute webinar on the interaction of furloughing and insolvency law.

During this session, our Insolvency Partner Paul Bagon discussed the recent High Court judgement involving Italian restaurant chain Carluccio's, which entered administration at the end of March.

When the Coronavirus Act 2020 (the "Act") received royal assent on 25 March 2020, commercial tenants across the country were afforded some relief.

On 28 March 2020 the Business Secretary announced further new far-reaching measures to help businesses combat the financial impact of COVID-19.

In a welcome intervention, the Business Secretary declared it was the government’s intention to suspend wrongful trading provisions and to introduce a moratorium for businesses undergoing a restructuring process. Both measures are intended to assist companies to trade through financial distress caused by the loss of business due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Concerns regarding the strength of UK supply chains and the consequences which arise when links in the chain fail, are not new and were recently subject to significant scrutiny in the context of Brexit negotiations. But with COVID-19 causing a host of new problems for already stressed supply chains, what can businesses do to protect themselves?