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The High Court considered whether it would be appropriate to approve a scheme of arrangement for a company incorporated in Luxembourg where the company's COMI had been moved to England and there had been a change in the governing law and jurisdiction clause in favour of the English courts.

It has been held that full and frank disclosure was not provided to the Court by a Russian Liquidator in granting a Recognition Order in the UK, which resulted in the Recognition Order being set aside. The issue was determined despite the parties being in agreement that the Liquidator's claims should be withdrawn.

The Facts

Norton Aluminium Ltd (NAL) went into Administration following a partially successful nuisance claim against it and subsequently went into Liquidation. Mr Dickinson was the managing director and controlling shareholder and brought a claim to recover a secured loan made by him to NAL. The Liquidators counterclaimed to set aside or recover compensation for various transactions, including a share buyback from Mr Dickinson and connected parties by NAL for £2.5 million and the sale of a subsidiary to Mr Dickinson for £1.

Daniel Maurice Wagner -v- Benjamin Vincent St John White [2016] WL 10574979

Tech entrepreneur Ben White has successfully defended Dan Wagner's application to set aside a Statutory Demand in relation to Mr White's £2m investment in Powa Technologies PLC ("Powa"). Ashfords advised Ben White, with Joe Curl acting as counsel.

The Facts

A private member's bill, Bill C-372, was introduced on 17 October 2017 with proposed amendments to the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act and the Companies Creditors’ Arrangement Act. The Bill seeks to protect retired workers whose pensions and group insurance plans are at risk if their previous employer goes bankrupt or undergoes restructuring. The Bill would provide for priority status for claims in respect of underfunded pension plans, as well as claims arising as a result of an employer terminating its participation in a group insurance plan.

In Orexim Trading Ltd v Mahavir Port and Terminal Private Ltd and others [2017] EWHC 2663 (Comm), the High Court held that a claim under s.423 of the Insolvency Act 1986 ("IA 1986") where it was not brought by an insolvent company within the jursdiction did not fall within the jurisdictional gateways under paragraph 3.1 CPR PD 6B.

An application was made for recognition in Great Britain under the Cross-Border Insolvency Regulations 2006 ("CBIR") of new legislation in Croatia known as "Extraordinary Administration Proceeding".

The Facts

This case is the first to really consider the practical impact of the recent Court of Appeal decision in Shlosberg v Avonwick [2016] EWCA Civ 1138, in which it was decided that legal professional privilege does not vest in a Trustee in Bankruptcy.

In 2017, a number of insolvency cases were litigated, in various provinces across Canada, which may materially affect the realization and recovery rights of commercial lenders in restructuring and insolvency proceedings. This article summarizes the core issue of importance to lenders in each of these cases and provides an update on their appeal status.

November 2, 2017 September 11, 2017

INTEGRITY OF COURT-ORDERED SALE PROCESS

Squestre de Gestion EGR inc. et Lemieux Nolet inc., syndics de faillite et gestionnaires