Retail, as a sector, has long been under pressure from increased competition from online retailers, which has resulted in reduced footfall on the high street, affecting many companies, including many well-known names.

Between 2016 and 2019, 13 of 23 company voluntary arrangements (CVAs), which are used by UK businesses to reduce their debts, saw their group going into administration, while other companies that did not agree a CVA ended up seeking investors to buy the business.

What is a CVA?

As mentioned in our earlier blog, the Dutch legislator has prepared a bill – the Act on confirmation of private restructuring plans (Wet homologatie onderhands akkoord) – introducing a framework that allows debtors to restructure their debts outside formal insolvency proceedings (the “Dutch Scheme“). We expect this highly-anticipated bill to enter into force by this summer.

It is extremely sad to hear the news that Katie Price has been declared bankrupt.

Although the stigma of bankruptcy may have disappeared, it is still an extremely sobering event when an individual fails financially and is declared bankrupt by a court. In an increasingly materialistic world, bankruptcy is an ever-common event in society.

Recently, the British Chamber of Commerce (BCC) warned that economic conditions are weakening and businesses are struggling, following a survey they have conducted of 6,600 companies employing 1.2 million workers. Their research found that domestic and export sales are falling, and services firms have seen a decrease in work in the three months to September. This has prompted fears that the UK’s economy may fall into recession.

On 5 July 2019 the Minister of Justice submitted a bill to parliament that will add a new powerful tool to the Dutch restructuring toolbox. The bill on the “Act on the Confirmation of a Private Restructuring Plan” is expected to introduce a serious competitor to the UK’s Scheme of Arrangement and the USA’s Chapter 11. The introduction of the bill will move one step closer on 26 September 2019, when members of the parliament are scheduled to submit their questions and remarks on the bill to parliament’s Standing Committee on Justice and Security.

1. Introduction

Imagine that a debtor voluntarily concludes a transaction with a third party where he knows (or should know) that it hinders the creditor’s possibilities of collecting the debt. In civil law countries, a creditor can invoke the nullification of that legal act by means of a so-called actio pauliana. This raises the question of which court has jurisdiction in the case of an international dispute, regarding an actio pauliana, that is instituted by a creditor against a third party?

1. Introduction

If your company has gone into liquidation and you are in the process of setting up a new business, you may want to use the same or a similar company name. However, if you either act as director or are involved in the management of the new company with the same or similar name as the insolvent company, you run the risk of both civil and criminal liability if you don’t comply with the restrictions under the Insolvency Act 1986.

Once again, the statistics show an increase in corporate and personal insolvencies nationally, with a reported 16,090 corporate insolvencies and 115,299 personal insolvencies in the UK in 2018. While the media is focusing on how this reflects on the economy and the government, insolvency specialist Tony Sampson looks at what it means for the millions of creditors involved in those insolvencies. In short, what will those creditors actually receive?