It is unfortunately a common story for anyone who has been in business for any length of time: the unscrupulous director who, rather than confront creditors in an insolvency process, simply disappears as if by magic by dissolving the company and re-appearing elsewhere moments later, leaving creditors clasping nothing but smoke. This loophole has frustrated creditors for many years as it means their only remaining option is a commercially unattractive application to restore the company to the register in order to petition to place the company into compulsory liquidation.
Directors of companies have been facing, and continue to face, extremely challenging circumstances due to the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The decisions they have taken through the pandemic to date have been made against a backdrop of unknowns: unknown closure durations, unknown projections and uncertain futures.
The Covid-19 pandemic has been with us now for over 12 months. At the time of writing, we are part way through the third national lockdown. The Government has indicated that schools should start reopening on 8 March 2021, but there is no indication of when non-essential retail will reopen or when the directive to work from home ‘where possible’ will be eased.
In measures that came into effect from 1 December 2020, the Finance Act 2020 dictates that for certain debts, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) will now rank much further up the chain of creditors when a company enters administration or liquidation. This is a radical change to a process that had previously ranked HMRC as an unsecured creditor for nearly 20 years.
What was the old system?
Throughout the current pandemic, there have been remedies available to commercial landlords in relation to unpaid rent arrears and other tenant breaches - though the introduction of the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 had a significant impact on
Karen McMaster, Ben Andrews and James Cameron, Milbank LLP
This is an extract from the 2020 edition of GRR's the Europe, Middle East and Africa Restructuring Review. The whole publication is available here.
In summary
Cristóbal Eyzaguirre B, Rodrigo Ochagavía R-T and Santiago Bravo S, Claro & Cia
This is an extract from the 2021 edition of GRR's The Americas Restructuring Review. The whole publication is available here.
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DJ Miller, Thornton Grout Finnigan
This is an extract from the 2021 edition of GRR's The Americas Restructuring Review. The whole publication is available here.
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This chapter highlights the flexible nature of Canada’s restructuring regime, where creative solutions to novel and complex issues are welcomed by the judiciary.
Discussion points
Luiz Fernando Valente de Paiva, Giuliano Colombo, Andre Marques, Carolina Kiyomi Iwamoto and Ana Beatriz Araujo Ribeiro do Valle, Pinheiro Neto Advogados
This is an extract from the 2021 edition of GRR's The Americas Restructuring Review. The whole publication is available here.
In summary
Adrián Thery, Borja García-Alamán, Juan Verdugo and Juan María Jiménez, Garrigues
This is an extract from the 2020 edition of GRR's the Europe, Middle East and Africa Restructuring Review. The whole publication is available here.
In summary