The Land and Conveyancing Law Reform (Amendment) Bill 2019 (the “Bill”) proposes to broaden the factors that the courts can consider in refusing orders for possession sought by lenders.

The Bill has its roots in the Keeping People in their Homes Bill, 2018, introduced by Kevin “Boxer” Moran T.D., as a private member’s bill. However, the Bill does not go as far as Mr Moran’s bill and, for instance, does not require disclosure of the price paid by a purchaser of the loan.

Background

What is a Statutory Demand?

A Statutory Demand is a formal 21-day demand for payment issued by a creditor to a debtor.

When can a Statutory Demand be issued?

You can issue a Statutory Demand if your debt is owed from a limited company or an LLP and is a liquidated sum of more than £750 or when a creditor is owed a debt from an individual, a sole trader or a partnership as long as the debt is for a liquidated sum of more than £5000 and is unsecured.

In 2018 the Insolvency Service recorded that Company insolvencies were at their highest level since 2014, with a slight increase of 0.7% on 2017. Individual insolvencies were also at their highest level since 2011 with an increase of 16.2% on2017. There was a 19.9% increase on Individual Voluntary Arrangements (“IVAs”) which is the highest level ever recorded. With this in mind, businesses need to focus on tight cash flow across all areas and understand the importance of putting a credit policy in place.

Goodbye 2018 and hello 2019! It is that time of year to take stock and review your cash flow for 2019.

The Court of Appeal has issued a welcome clarification of rules regulating the payment of dividends to shareholders in Global Corporate Ltd v Hale [2018] EWCA Civ 2618.

Facts

The case was appealed from the ruling of Judge Matthews in the High Court [2017] EWHC 2277 (Ch). At issue were several payments made by Powerstation UK Limited (the “Company”) to Mr Hale, who was a director and shareholder of the Company at the relevant times.

In 2018 the Supreme Court delivered its much-awaited decision in the case of SPV OSUS Ltd v HSBC Institutional Trust Services (Ireland) Ltd & Ors where it confirmed that the assignment of a claim is unenforceable in Irish law unless the assignment is ancillary to a bona fide transaction or the assignee has a genuine commercial interest in the assignment.

Overall 2018 has produced a number of positive judgments from the perspective of lenders and insolvency practitioners.

In particular, the courts delivered many useful judgments disposing of numerous challenges to the enforceability of loans and security and, also, restricting abuse of the courts’ processes.

Contemptuous McKenzie Friends

Many of the statistics reflecting trends in Irish economic activity have remained constant over the past few years. GDP has been rising, unemployment has been falling and inflation has remained fairly static. The recent publication of the Courts Service Annual Report 2017 confirms a similar consistent pattern in creditor litigation and enforcement, for the calendar year 2017.

Default judgments

Must the legal owner of securitised debt and related security disclose in proceedings it brings that it is a bare trustee for the beneficial owner? In addition, is that trustee obliged to join the beneficial owner as a party to those proceedings?

It seems as though every one of our much loved high street restaurants are currently having to consider closing restaurants as part of their Company Voluntary Agreement (CVA) as restaurants struggle with their finances. But what is a CVA and how can they help the casual dining sector survive the current high-street crisis?

What is a Company Voluntary Agreement or CVA?