There have been a number of cases in recent years in which a party has sought to utilise the provisions of the CPR in order to obtain information on the opposing party's insurance arrangements, rather than waiting for that party to go insolvent in order to use the procedures provided by the Third Parties Rights Act 1930 or 2010. The recent case of Peel Port Shareholder Finance Co v Dornoch Ltd [2017] EWHC 876 (TCC) looks at this again in light of the discretion which Judges have under CPR31.16 for applications for pre-action disclosure and attempts to shut the door on such actions.

Reform des Insolvenzanfechtungsrechts

Das Gesetz zur Reform des Insolvenzanfechtungsrechts ist am 05.04.2017 in Kraft getreten. Im Fokus steht mit § 133 InsO die sogenannte Voranfechtung, die bislang in ihrer Ausprägung durch die Rechtsprechung des Bundesgerichtshofs in der Kritik stand. Im Ergebnis musste ein Gläubiger so bereits dann mit einer Insolvenzanfechtung durch den Insolvenzverwalter rechnen, wenn er seinem Schuldner eine Ratenzahlung gewährte.

Whether third party claimant entitled to pre-action disclosure of currently solvent insured's insurance policy

When Hanjin Shipping went into administration in late 2016, reportedly over 500,000 containers were stranded or arrested at ports worldwide, including many in the Middle East. Cargo owners who find themselves in such circumstances can be critically affected (particularly if the cargo is temperature sensitive, perishable or urgently required), and they will often look to their cargo insurers. This note highlights a number of issues which are likely to arise when a carrier becomes insolvent during a laden voyage, and claims are made under a marine cargo policy in the UAE.

The past 12-18 months have seen some of the biggest changes to established insolvency law and practice in England and Wales since the Insolvency Act 1986 and Insolvency Rules 1986 (the old Rules) came into force. These have culminated with the new Insolvency Rules 2016 (the new Rules), which become effective on 6 April 2017 and are intended to consolidate the old Rules (including all 28 subsequent sets of amendments to them).

Legislation soon to take force creates a new special administration regime for private providers of social housing, introducing changes that will transform restructuring in the sector.

When this topic was last considered two years ago, there was a real danger of pension rights (previously thought of as sacrosanct) being within the reach of trustees in bankruptcy by way of an income payments order (IPO). There were also two conflicting first instance decisions in play. The issue? Whether a pension entitlement capable of drawdown by election, but not yet in payment, can fall within the definition of income in section 310(7) of the Insolvency Act 1986 (IA86), and so be the potential subject of an IPO.

Savers who become bankrupt but have not yet drawn their pensions will not have to hand them to creditors after a ruling of the Court of Appeal put an end to fears that pension pots were at risk.

The Court of Appeal upheld the High Court’s ruling on Horton v Henry, originally heard in 2014, settling legal difficulties arising from a conflicting judgment of Raithatha v Williamson (2012); and the introduction of the pension freedoms.

In our previous two briefings on the Bankruptcy Law, we have looked at a summary of the key changes made by the Law, and the potential personal liability faced by directors of UAE companies in financial difficulty. In this briefing, we turn to creditor protection.

It has been just over two months since one of South Korea's largest shipowners and operators, Hanjin Shipping Co Ltd (“Hanjin”), applied for court rehabilitation. On 1 September 2016, the Bankruptcy Division 6 of the Seoul Central District Court (the “court”) issued a decision accepting that application and commencing rehabilitation proceedings.