The government has published the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Bill which, if passed, will significantly restrict suppliers’ ability to exit commercial agreements due to restructuring or insolvency-related causes.

That the current pandemic has thrown a curveball at many businesses is a given.

At the end of February, the Bank of Scotland Business Barometer reported that overall business confidence in the UK was at a net balance of 23%. Only two months later and confidence plunged to minus 29%.

The government has introduced fundamental changes to the procedures for presenting winding-up petitions and making winding-up orders in the Corporate Governance and Insolvency Bill.

A recent Sheriff Court judgment is the latest decision to consider the role and remit of the court reporter in a liquidation which, unusually, involved the court appointing two reporters.

In Scotland, the Insolvency (Scotland) (Receivership and Winding Up) Rules 2018 provide that where there is no creditors committee, the remuneration of a liquidator shall be fixed by the court. In practice, the court appoints a reporter to examine and audit the liquidator’s accounts and to report on the amount of remuneration to be paid.

On top of the multiple challenges hitting retail and leisure landlords and occupiers arising from COVID-19, the news that Intu has had to write down the value of its shopping centre portfolio by nearly £2 billion came as further bad news.

It seems that business disruption due to coronavirus is pretty inevitable. What should you as a company director be doing if the disruption means your business starts to suffer?

What changes for me as a director?

As a director, you know that you owe duties to the company. When the business starts heading towards insolvency, there is a change of emphasis and instead of doing what is best for the shareholders, you have to change and consider what the consequences of your actions will be for the company’s creditors.

Saam Golshani and Alexis Hojabr, White & Case LLP

This is an extract from the first edition of GRR's The Art of the Pre-Pack. The whole publication is available here.

Christopher Harlowe and Christopher Levers, Mourant

This is an extract from the first edition of GRR's The Art of the Pre-Pack. The whole publication is available here.

The Cayman Islands has established itself as the jurisdiction of choice for financially sophisticated businesses such as hedge funds, private equity funds, special purpose vehicles and trusts that use offshore vehicles.

David Baxter and Brian O’Malley, A&L Goodbody

This is an extract from the first edition of GRR's The Art of the Pre-Pack. The whole publication is available here.

Introduction

Pre-packs in Ireland probably are not as common as they should be. In theory, a pre-pack is broadly available in each of our insolvency procedures: liquidation, examinership and receivership.

Dominic Emmett and Hannah Cooper, Gilbert + Tobin

This is an extract from the first edition of GRR's The Art of the Pre-Pack. The whole publication is available here.

Dennis F Dunne, Dennis C O'Donnell and Nelly Almeida, Milbank LLP

This is an extract from the first edition of GRR's The Art of the Pre-Pack. The whole publication is available here.

Introduction