This update focusses on a range of issues affecting IPs from the past two months, covering the consultation on fees announced in February, the HMRC announced changes to the VAT deregistration regime, when accountants may be required to produce documents under Sections 235 and 256 of the Insolvency Act, and a recent Court of Appeal decision on when a company may be considered to be insolvent for the purpose of Section 238 actions
Consultation on the regulation of Insolvency Practitioners and IPs’ fees
Introduction: The Question
Financial entities. Royal Decree-Law 14/2013, of November 29, on urgent measures to adapt Spanish law to European Union law on the supervision and solvency of financial entities. (BOE 287, November 30, 2013)
European Union law on the supervision and solvency of financial entities (Basel III) has been incorporated into Spanish law.
Whoever acquires control of a listed company due to a conversion of debts into shares directly attributable to a court-sanctioned refinancing agreement will not have to launch a mandatory bid. This exemption applies automatically without the need for a CNMV evaluation.
INTRODUCTION
Royal Decree-Law 4/2014, of March 7, on urgent measures for refinancing and restructuring corporate debt, substantially amends the Insolvency Act (particularly regarding the regulation of refinancing agreements and their court sanctioning, and other pre-insolvency institutions). It also modifies the exemption on mandatory takeover bids for rescue operations and extends for one more year (and broadens the scope of) the special regime for calculating loss based on impairment in cases of mandatory capital reduction and mandatory dissolution of companies.
On December 28, 2013, the new Electricity Sector Act (Act 24/2013, of December 26) or “LSE” came into force.
The LSE maintains the essence of the rules established under Royal Decree- Law 9/2013, of July 12. Existing renewable energy plants will receive the market price and will be entitled to additional remuneration that, based on investment costs and standard operations costs, will enable them to achieve certain profitability.
The Court of Appeal in Pillar Denton Ltd & Others v (1) Jervis (2) Maddison and (3) Game Retail Ltd ([2014] EWCA Civ 180) yesterday overruled previous High Court authority, deciding that rent should be treated as an expense of the administration based on actual usage and not on when the rent falls due. What does this mean for practitioners?
The background
Landlords will be relieved that the Court of Appeal has closed a legal loophole in a test case arising out of the administration of the Game group of Companies – Pillar Denton Ltd & 5 others v (1) Jervis (2) Maddison (3) Game Retail Ltd [2014] EWCA Civ 180.
What happens to funds held in escrow when the paying entity goes into administration?
The background
Escrow mechanisms are familiar territory for most practitioners. The case of Bristol Alliance Nominee No. 1 Ltd and others v Neil Andrew Bennett and others [2013] EWCA Civ 1626 explores what happens when funds are held in escrow at a time when the paying entity goes into administration.
We take a look at the reforms to the EC Insolvency Regulation in light of the European Parliament’s 4 February vote on the committee of legal affairs’ report on the proposed reforms.
The background