Statutory demand is a common and important tool in the winding up process. But recently, the Hong Kong Court of First Instance has reminded us that it is by no means a must.

One of the temporary measures that was not extended was the disapplication of the wrongful trading rules of section 214 of the Insolvency Act 1986 as regards the personal liability of company directors. The discontinuation of the temporary protection has been criticised by business and most recently by the Institute of Directors (IoD) which commented that "Failing to extend the suspension of wrongful trading rules was a mistake. Without this protection, the pressure is on directors to simply shut up shop when faced with difficulty". Is that concern justified?

Insolvency legislation has been coming thick and fast in recent months, and this time it's pre pack sales to connected parties that are facing further scrutiny.  

The concern is that the voluntary measures which were put in place a few years ago have not provided enough transparency so new legislative measures are on the horizon. On 8 October the UK Government published a set of draft Regulations which will tighten up the processes around pre-pack sales to connected parties.

What is a pre pack?

In Riverrock Securities Limited v International Bank of St Petersburg (Joint Stock Company) [2020] EWHC 2483 (Comm) the High Court granted Riverrock Securities Limited (“RSL”) an interim anti-suit injunction against bankruptcy proceedings brought against RSL by the receiver of the International Bank of St Petersburg (“IBSP”) (the Bankruptcy Proceedings).

In a recent decision, the High Court held that an application to admit witness evidence which had been filed and served late should be treated like an application for relief from sanctions under CPR 3.9: Wolf Rock (Cornwall) Ltd v Langhelle [2020] EWHC 2500 (Ch).

Law 3/2020, of 18 September, on procedural and organisational measures to tackle COVID-19 in the area of the Administration of Justice entered into effect on 20 September 2020.

The new insolvency and corporate measures are brought in with three primary aims:

El pasado 20 de septiembre de 2020, entró en vigor la Ley 3/2020, de 18 de septiembre, de medidas procesales y organizativas para hacer frente al COVID-19 en el ámbito de la Administración de Justicia.

Según se establece, estas nuevas medidas concursales y societarias se llevan a cabo con una triple finalidad:

The Australian Federal Government has announced significant insolvency law reforms that will affect small businesses with liabilities of less than $1 million. The reforms are expected to commence on 1 January 2021 and will introduce, among other measures, a new debt restructuring process and liquidation pathway for small businesses which the Government intends to be simpler, more flexible and more efficient than existing processes.

In brief

For litigators the most important provision is the extension of the restrictions on the use of statutory demands and winding up petitions until 31 December 2020. The Act, of course, provides that no winding up petition can be presented on the basis of a statutory demand during the relevant restricted period and that where a winding up petition is presented (by a creditor on any basis) a court must be satisfied that coronavirus has not had a "financial effect" on the company before the presentation of the petition.

The statutory provisions for Restructuring Plans form a new Part 26A of the Companies Act 2006. CIGA was brought into force on June 26, 2020 and at a hearing in the High Court in London on September 2, 2020, the plan proposed by Virgin Atlantic, which was the first to be brought before the courts, was sanctioned.