In a comprehensive judgment arising out of the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the UK Supreme Court recently determined the ranking of creditors.
Principally, the Court held that Lehman Brothers International (Europe)'s subordinated debt holders were "at the bottom of the waterfall", behind statutory interest and non-provable debt claimants.
The statutory demand process is widely used by companies wishing to secure prompt payment of debts owing by companies registered in Australia. This article will look at a company's options for dealing with a statutory demand.
What is a statutory demand?
Introduction
The Sapin II Act of November 8 2016 amended the regime governing directors' liability in an insolvency scenario in order to encourage the recovery of honest directors of failed businesses.
The Sapin II Act of November 8 2016 amended the regime governing directors' liability in an insolvency scenario in order to encourage the recovery of honest directors of failed businesses.
British law firm DWL LLP has acquired insurance specialist Triton Global for the bargain basement price of 30% of its value. The deal was struck just days before HM Revenue & Customs attempted to wind the firm up over unpaid tax of £1.3m. Triton Global was a competitor of DWL, but cash flow difficulties left it unable to cover its working capital requirements and service creditor debt. The deal sees DWL pay £1.1m for Triton Global, with unsecured creditors set to receive less than 4p to the pound. Of the purchase price, only £174,000 is allocated to the approxima
In Body Corporate 341188 v Kelly, a judgment debtor sought to overturn an Associate Judge's decision not to set aside a bankruptcy notice. The notice was in respect of a District Court judgment and a costs order obtained by the Body Corporate in a separate High Court proceeding. The debtor argued (among other grounds) that the notice was invalid because it was in respect of two judgment debts rather than one.
The Supreme Court has recently dismissed an appeal against a Court of Appeal decision on the disclosure of trust documents to discretionary beneficiaries.
Commercial Factors Ltd v Meltzer concerned a funding agreement between Commercial Factors Ltd (CFL) and the liquidators of Blue Chip New Zealand Ltd (in liq) (Company) by which CFL agreed to lend $67,750 to allow the liquidators to obtain an opinion on the merits of claims against the Company's directors.
If proceedings were commenced, the Company was to pay 2.5% of any proceeds received to CFL. If the Company did not commence proceedings but otherwise received funds, the agreement stipulated CFL's right to repayment after any liquidator costs.
In 2008, Harvey, an experienced businessman, guaranteed a debt owed to Dunbar Assets plc (Dunbar). Dunbar subsequently served a statutory demand on Harvey in 2011 for payment under the guarantee.
In 2012, Harvey applied, unsuccessfully, to set aside the demand in the County Court on the ground of promissory estoppel. However, the demand was subsequently set aside by the Court of Appeal on a completely unrelated ground.
The liquidators of Marathon Imaging Limited (Marathon) brought a claim against the company's director, Mr Greenhill, for a prejudicial disposition of property under section 346 of the Property Law Act 2007 and a breach of director's duties under the Companies Act 1993. Marathon had begun defaulting on its tax commitments from 2008 onwards and became insolvent shortly after. The Greenhill Family Trust (Trust), a secured creditor of Marathon, appointed receivers and the Commissioner of Inland Revenue had Marathon placed into liquidation just three days later.