BMR Slendertone SARL and Slendertone Distribution Inc are wholly owned subsidiaries of Bio Medical Research Limited, an Irish incorporated company involved in the manufacture of electronic muscle stimulation toning products in over 20 countries. Following an unsuccessful examinership, on 2 June 2022 Orders were made winding up the Irish company and appointing a liquidator.

In Pharmagona Limited v Taheri,(1) the High Court refused to seal and issue a contempt application as the breach, if it had occurred, was only technical, and it was therefore inappropriate for the application to succeed.

Facts

In a recent judgment, which provides useful clarification to liquidators of companies, the High Court has held that section 631 of the Companies Act 2014 (the “Act”) does not confer a free-standing jurisdiction to order disclosure of information or documentation. Furthermore, the Court held that the inspection right conferred by section 684 of the Act cannot be used as a vehicle for carrying out a “fishing expedition” of a wide range of documents.

Background

This briefing was originally published on 27 July 2021 following the enactment of the Companies (Rescue Process for Small and Micro Companies) Act 2021. The Act was commenced on 8 December 2021.

Introduction

Background to the Restructuring Plan

The UK has introduced the Restructuring Plan; a new, flexible court supervised restructuring tool. The Restructuring Plan draws upon features of the existing Companies Act 2006 scheme of arrangement procedure (which remains available) but includes features which are new to the UK but similar to those under U.S. Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings.

Examinership is a well-established corporate rescue mechanism for ailing corporates and groups. It combines flexibility with a high degree of commercial and procedural certainty for all involved. It is a process which has evolved with the different economic cycles in Ireland since its inception in 1990 and has responded to downturns in different sectors.

HMRC clamping down on furlough fraud by companies in Danger Zone

The latest statistics show that over 11 million workers have been furloughed in the UK as part of the government's job retention scheme (that equates to 16% of the population or one in six people) and 41% of employers had staff furloughed. The scheme has so far cost the government over £40 billion and this figure will continue to rise until the end of September this year when the scheme is set to wind down.

Now that the UK has left the EU and the transition period ended on 31 December 2020, this briefing considers the key points of the legal and regulatory landscape from the perspective of Ireland.

Deal or no-deal?

In effect, there is both. The December 2020 EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement¹ (the “TCA”) includes a ‘deal’ so far as concerns EU-UK trade in many types of good. However, the TCA makes little provision for trade in services and so, broadly, it is ‘no-deal’ as regards most types of service.

What are the proposed changes to rules on transfer of ownership?

The key takeaway

The Law Commission’s proposed changes are likely to improve consumers’ odds of owning goods bought online in the event of retailer insolvency, even before they have left the retailer’s possession.

The background

In this chapter of our Annual Insurance Review 2021, we look at the main developments in 2020 and expected issues in 2021 for D&O.

Key developments in 2020

For D&O insurers, 2020 was all about the hardening market – with rates doubling in some cases and limits contracting – and the underlying causes of that.