We are currently still in a lot of unknown territory; so how will our exit from the EU affect Debts here in the UK, in Europe and in other countries?

Once the UK finalises the exit from the EU, any debts someone may have in the EU will fall into the category of similar non-EU debts in other countries, such as the United States. Whilst you can include those debts in a UK bankruptcy you are only afforded the protection from them in the UK. 

Angel Group Ltd and others concerned a group of companies in Administration where the director asserted that the companies’ bank had “conspired to artificially distress the business”

The facts

In the case of Angel Group Ltd and others [2015] EWHC 3624, Administrators from KPMG were appointed to Angel Group Limited and to seven of its subsidiaries. The Bank of Scotland was the only secured creditor, and was owed a residual balance of £20 million.

The High Court has determined the circumstances in which sums drawn down under a self-investment personal pension scheme could be subject to an income payments order.

The background

What can happen to you if your pre-payment is lost is demonstrated by the recent administration of budget tour operator Lowcostholidays. The company’s administration left customers already abroad at risk of being asked by hotel owners to settle their bills before leaving and meant that other customers lost deposits paid for holidays which will now, sadly, not take place.

Prior to 1930 if an insured person/company (insured) incurred a liability to a third party (TP) but then became bankrupt/passed into liquidation any monies paid out under the insurance policy was paid to the Trustee/Liquidator for the benefit of ALL creditors.

The Third Parties (Rights Against Insurers) Act 1930 (1930 Act) transferred the insured’s rights against the insurer under certain circumstances to the TP who could pursue the insurer against the policy proceeds once the insured’s liability was established. So the policy proceeds may benefit the TP and not all creditors.

The actuary is not required to consider the security of benefits where a bulk transfer without member consents is proposed, the Court has decided.

A transfer without consent cannot be made unless the actuary certifies that, in their opinion, the past service rights each member will be credited with in the receiving scheme will be "broadly no less favourable" than their rights in the transferring scheme.

The Key Provisions

After much delay, the Third Parties (Rights Against Insurers) Act 2010 (the “Act”) will come into force on 1 August 2016. The essential purpose of the act is to aid claimants in procuring recoveries from the insurers of insolvent defendants.The Key Provisions

This will be of particular use to businesses that frequently find themselves in litigation with financially weak defendants. However, insolvency practitioners should also take note of the Act as it places new obligations on them.

The Third Parties (Rights Against Insurers) Act 2010 (the 2010 Act) will finally come into force from 1 August 2016.

The Act improves the rights of claimants who have a claim against an insolvent company or individual to directly claim against the insolvent party’s insurer.

In particular, the 2010 Act brings about the following important changes:

Although the EU Insolvency Regulation and the UNCITRAL Model Law have been with us for some time, decisions involving the court’s recognition of foreign proceedings continue to evolve and will – of necessity – turn on the specific facts of every case. We investigate two recent decisions which came up with very different results.

The background – Re OGX Petroloeo E Gas S.A. [2016] EWHC 25

The past few months have seen some interesting developments in legislative and regulatory requirements in the restructuring and insolvency world. We explore a number of them in this article.

SBEEA – reports on director conduct from 6 April

The Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 (Commencement No 4), Transitional and Savings Provisions Regulations 2016 (SI 2016/321) were made on 9 March 2016.