When companies face cashflow and other pressures, early action can assist with the assessment and mitigation of these risks

Events since the start of the decade have brought accelerated and transformative change across the UK business landscape and economy. The way businesses, employers and employees work and how business growth is driven has changed and is changing profoundly.

Dispute Resolution analysis: Deputy ICCJ Schaffer has dismissed an application brought by the Respondents to a claim brought by the Joint Liquidators of BHS Group Ltd for wrongful trading. The failure to plead the relevant quantum of the claim was not a deficiency which merited strike-out.

Re BHS Group Ltd [2021] EWHC 3501 (Ch)

What are the practical implications of this case?

On 14 January 2022, it was published in the Official Journal of the Spanish Parliament, the draft law of the Insolvency Act for the transposition of Directive (EU) 2019/1023 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 on preventive restructuring frameworks, debt waivers and disqualifications, and on measures to improve the efficiency of restructuring, insolvency and debt waiver procedures, and amending Directive (EU) 2017/1132 (Restructuring and Insolvency Directive) (hereinafter, the "Draft Law").

These case summaries first appeared in LexisNexis’ Insolvency Case Alerter. They represent some of the more interesting insolvency decisions to have been published recently.

This summary covers:

We are (or were!) emerging from nearly two years of restrictions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic which forced people to stay at home and businesses to close causing shock waves throughout the economy. The government put in place the package of emergency measures and support which we are now all too familiar with. However, the question always lingered, what next? What about when the money runs out?

This appeal concerned (inter alia) whether an application for an order for sale made under s.335A of the Insolvency Act 1986 (‘IA 1986’) should be made by an application notice issued under the Insolvency Rules 2016 (‘IR 2016) or by a Part 8 Claim Form issued under the Civil Procedure Rules (‘CPR’).

Factual Background

Introduction

In Re Bronia, ICC Judge Burton had to consider whether a director could retrospectively re-characterise a director’s loan as ‘drawings’ in order to release the director from liability to the company. ICC Judge Burton concluded that such an approach was impermissible.

Facts

These case summaries first appeared in LexisNexis’ Insolvency Case Alerter. They represent some of the more interesting insolvency decisions to have been published recently.

This summary covers:

Does the extension of pandemic protections risk creating 'zombie' businesses in the building sector?

The government has extended measures in the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 (CIGA) to protect businesses during the pandemic until 30 September 2021.

The CIGA came into force on 26 June 2020. It introduced new procedures and measures to rescue companies in financial distress as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Pandemic protection

These case summaries first appeared in LexisNexis’ Insolvency Case Alerter. They represent some of the more interesting insolvency decisions to have been published recently.

This summary covers:

1.Re PGH Investments Ltd [2021] EWHC 533 (Ch)

2.Re Mederco (Cardiff) Ltd [2021] EWHC 386 (Ch)

3.Lyle v Bedborough [2021] EWHC 220 (Ch)

4.Re TXU Ltd, Insolvency and Companies Court, 2 March 2021

5.Re Port Finance Investment Ltd [2021] EWHC 378 (Ch)