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Where the key asset of a technology start up is a potential entitlement to an R&D tax refund, the Spitfire decision provides important clarity for financiers of such businesses, as well as for liquidators (and employees) of those businesses which fail.  

Letters of support take many forms and are issued for a variety of purposes and can generate a serious tension between the interests of various stakeholders — parents, subsidiaries, boards and auditors.

With the Commercial Rent (Coronavirus) Bill having received Royal Assent, Penningtons Manches Cooper’s real estate litigation team sets out below an overview of the restrictions now coming into force.

There are restrictions on the service of statutory demands and winding-up petitions where a debtor company is unable to pay sums claimed due to coronavirus, which are due to expire on 31 March 2022.

With the Commercial Rent (Coronavirus) Bill (the Bill) now in its final stages, Penningtons Manches Cooper’s real estate litigation team sets out below an overview of the new restrictions that will come into force when the Bill is given Royal Assent.

Current restrictions

It may first be beneficial to review the current moratorium that is in place. The majority of these restrictions expire on 25 March 2022 and the insolvency restrictions expire on 31 March 2022 but, until those dates, the following apply:

The High Court today gave the first decision, globally, of a Court of ultimate appeal on the question of the construction of Article XI(2) of the Cape Town Convention's protocol on Matters Specific to Aircraft Equipment (Aircraft Protocol), which is of seminal importance for financiers and lessors of aircraft property, insolvency administrators globally.

End of CIGA restrictions

On 1 October 2021 the temporary changes to corporate insolvency law, brought about by the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 (CIGA) and which seriously curtailed creditors’ ability to present winding-up petitions between 1 March 2020 and 30 September 2021, changed.

Where it appears that there has been concealment or removal of valuable assets and little to no co-operation from the directors in the course of a liquidation, the section 530C warrant procedure in the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) has proven to be an effective means of obtaining information regarding company books and assets.

It is important for a receiver or voluntary administrator to ensure that a proper sales process is undertaken relevant to the circumstances as there is no "one-size-fits-all" approach.

Victoria's Court of Appeal has reaffirmed the risk that a disclaimer of property may be set aside where the liquidators are indemnified, and the need for liquidators to be mindful where the company holds contaminated property.

It’s autumn and time to put that box-set viewing on pause and perhaps instead review the likely direction of travel of the “zombie” army of distressed businesses. How do you avoid contagion?

Unless you hibernated during the various lockdowns you will not have failed to notice that the impact of Brexit, the Covid-19 pandemic, and lockdown measures took their toll on spending, incomes and jobs, tipping the UK economy into recession after negative growth in the first two quarters of 2020.