Removal of requirement for sanction

Previously under section 165 IA 86, liquidators in a voluntary winding up would have to seek sanction of the company (in members’ voluntary liquidation) or of the court or liquidation committee (in creditors’ voluntary liquidation) in order to exercise their powers to pay debts, compromise claims etc. SBEEA removes this requirement so that liquidators can exercise those powers freely. This will aid expeditious winding up of companies. Equivalent provisions have also been put into place for trustees in bankruptcy.

The recent appeal to the High Court in Woolsey v Payne [2015] EWHC 968 (Ch), from the Chief Registrar in insolvency proceedings, considered the application of sections 16B and 74(1)(a) of the Consumer Credit Act 1974, which relate to the enforceability of loans made for business purposes and/or in the course of a business.

The Insolvency Service has published its insolvency statistics for Q1 2015 which show that personal insolvencies were at the lowest level since Q4 2005.  In the 12 months ending Q1 2015, 1 in 478 adults (just over 0.2% of the adult population) became insolvent.  This was the lowest rate since the 12 months ending Q1 2006.

In April 2013, the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO) came into force, making the success fee applied to a Conditional Fee Arrangement (CFA), and the After the Event (ATE) insurance premiums, irrecoverable by a successful party to litigation proceedings.  However, under article 4 of LAPSO, there is an "insolvency exemption" making these costs recoverable by an insolvency practitioner.

Summary

The recent judgment of Mrs Justice Proudman in Plaza BV –v- The Law Debenture Trust Corporation¹  illustrates and extends a line of authorities in which the English courts have sought to narrow the scope of the mandatory application of Article 2 of the Brussels Regulation 44/2001.  These cases are a reaction to the broad interpretation of the applicability and effect of Article 2 set out in the ECJ's decision in Owusu –v- Jackson² , and attempt to confine the influence of that decision. 

Amendments to the Law on the Legal Status of Aliens

The draft amendments to the Law on the Legal Status of Aliens (hereinafter – the Law) aim to ensure more effective control of the migration of the aliens that are posing risk, to reduce the threat of their temporary or permanent residency in Lithuania, as well to establish an order for the urgent issuance of residence permits in the Republic of Lithuania.  

Įstatymo Dėl užsieniečių teisinės padėties pakeitimai

Įstatymo Dėl užsieniečių teisinės padėties (toliau tekste – „Įstatymas“) pakeitimo projektu siekiama užtikrinti veiksmingesnę riziką keliančių užsieniečių migracijos kontrolę, mažinti tokių asmenų laikino ar nuolatinio apsigyvenimo Lietuvoje grėsmę, taip pat įtvirtinti leidimų gyventi Lietuvoje išdavimo skubos tvarka institutą.

The published judgment in Abbey Forwarding[1] will not make for comfortable reading for HMRC. Having instigated the winding up of a profitable business, which led to the dismissal of 23 employees, and accused  innocent directors of fraud, HMRC then withdrew all assessments made against the company and attempted to avoid undertakings it had given to the court when seeking the original winding up order.

Introduction

In the recent case of Re LDK Solar Co Ltd,⁽¹⁾Justice Lam considered the approach that the court should take in deciding whether to invoke its jurisdiction to approve an arrangement or compromise between a foreign company and its creditors or members.