The Companies Court has set out the requirements necessary to serve out of the jurisdiction under the Practice Direction on Insolvency Proceedings.
The US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York has dismissed a case filed under Chapter 15 of the US Bankruptcy Code as the debtor's centre of main interest ("COMI") was not in the jurisdiction where the initial Liquidation was filed.
Creative Finance Ltd was incorporated in the British Virgin Islands in 1995. However the Company's main trade occurred in England, Dubai and Spain. In December 2013 the Company filed for Liquidation in the BVI, being its place of incorporation, and a Liquidator was duly appointed.
The Court interpreted the terms of a Termination Agreement and found that the Applicant, Europa, was entitled to €1.3 million from the Defendant, AII, in relation to funds invested on Europa's behalf, which had been paid out and held by AII. As a matter of construction, it could not have been intended that AII should be left with sums owing to an investor following a Termination Agreement.
On 24 March, HMRC published a summary of responses to the December consultation on Company Distributions, together with details of the Government's position on the issues raised. The December consultation was covered in my 3 February blog.
Over a third of South West pubs (33%) and restaurants (38.4%) are at heightened risk of insolvency in the next 12 months, according to research by R3, the insolvency trade body.
However, agricultural businesses in the South West have demonstrated increased strength since this time last year with 17% of business at risk, representing a 9.6% decrease in the proportion since February 2015.
Alan Bennett, Chair of R3 in the South West and Partner at Ashfords LLP, comments:
When a company is facing financial difficulties, the Directors of that company should be aware to the procedures that must be followed in relation to redundancies in order to avoid prosecution.
Today is the closing date for responses to a Government consultation on the tax treatment of company distributions. You can read the consultation document here.
The direction of travel, per the consultation, is clear. Anyone thinking of liquidating their company should consider these new rules carefully.
Simona Kornhaas v Thomas Dithmar (Case C-594/14)
The ECJ have ruled that a director of an English company that had entered into insolvency proceedings in Germany is liable to reimburse the company under German law for payments made after the company became insolvent.
With the cyclical fluctuation in oil and gas commodity prices, the UKCS has had its fair share of E&P companies going insolvent. As the UKCS matures, the profile of companies that invest in the region is changing. Many smaller parties, potentially with less access to capital, are now building positions. The commercial exposure is that some companies will not be able to meet cash calls, creating headaches for their co-venturers.
Alan Bennett, South West chair of insolvency trade body R3 and Partner at Ashfords LLP, advises people on how to identify, assess and tackle money issues which may have arisen over the Christmas period, so they can avoid a debt hangover in 2016.
Recent research by R3 found that 31% of people in the South West are worried about their current level of debt. Credit card repayments are the main cause of concern for those with debt worries, followed by an overdraft and mortgage repayments.