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With COVID-19 causing ever increasing financial uncertainty around the globe, we thought it an apt time to provide you with a summary of the various corporate insolvency procedures in the UK applicable to companies facing financial difficulties. Taking each in turn, we will discuss administration, administrative receivership, company voluntary arrangements, schemes of arrangement and liquidation. We will also touch briefly on directors’ duties, rules relating to asset distribution on insolvency and transactions that may be set aside on insolvency or ‘reviewable’ transactions.

On 25 June 2020, new legislation came into force in the UK which makes it much more difficult for suppliers to terminate contracts where the customer is subject to an insolvency procedure. In this briefing, we highlight the key issues that both suppliers and customers should be aware of and consider whether you should amend termination provisions in new contracts.

In preparation for a post COVID-19 world, Chinese outbound investors have begun to source for bargain deals in other countries, with markets characterised by corporate restructurings, low prices, depressed valuations, distressed assets, and fire sales. In this article, we briefly set out some suggestions for Chinese outbound investors when entering into bargain M&A deals in this unprecedented M&A landscape.

近期,北京市税务局发布了《关于进一步推进破产便利化 优化营商环境的公告》(2020年第4号,下称“4号公告”)、上海市高级人民法院与上海市税务局印发《关于优化企业破产程序中涉税事项办理的实施意见》(沪高法〔2020〕222号,下称“222号文”),旨在明确破产程序中的涉税事项,充分发挥破产制度在规范市场主体退出方面的重要作用。

破产是解决企业产业深层次矛盾,优化资源配置,提升企业产业质效的重要法治途径。破产程序中涉税事项的处理是重要一环,妥善处理破产事宜无法忽视涉税问题。实践中,我们作为税务律师也经常能接到破产程序中涉税事项的咨询,部分案件中涉税事项甚至成为左右破产程序能否顺利推进的重要因素,其中不乏争议的问题,部分问题可以从两份文件中找到答案或启示,我们在此结合两份文件的亮点与重点,对于破产程序中的涉税相关事项做简要梳理,并探讨合理应对之策。

一 非正常户、发票问题的解决

Welcome to the inaugural edition of our new newsletter, which is intended to capture the key developments in the English disputes arena over the past three months. We hope that you will find it an interesting read, whether you are a litigator, either in private practice or in-house, or a generalist wanting to keep abreast of the goings on in this space. We also hope that you will pass it on to any of your colleagues who may find it useful.

As one element of a package of measures intended to assist UK businesses with coping with economic difficulties brought about by the coronavirus pandemic, the UK government will temporarily suspend wrongful trading laws. The proposal to temporarily suspend wrongful trading laws is set out in the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Bill (the ‘Bill’), which is currently going through the UK parliament’s legislative process and is expected to be passed into law imminently.

In an effort to alleviate the impact of COVID-19 on UK businesses and encourage the supply of essential goods and services during the pandemic, the UK Government announced plans earlier this year to temporarily suspend wrongful trading laws and to fast track proposed permanent reforms to the existing insolvency regime (these reforms were developed in 2016 and consulted on in 2018).

The first reading of the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Bill (the "Insolvency Bill") took place on 20 May 2020.  The Insolvency Bill will be debated by the House of Commons on 3 June 2020 and is proposed to be introduced as fast-track legislation. 

With COVID-19 causing ever increasing financial uncertainty around the globe, we thought it an apt time to provide you with a summary of the various corporate insolvency procedures in the UK applicable to companies facing financial difficulties. Taking each in turn, we will discuss administration, administrative receivership, company voluntary arrangements, schemes of arrangement and liquidation. We will also touch briefly on directors’ duties, rules relating to asset distribution on insolvency and transactions that may be set aside on insolvency or ‘reviewable’ transactions.

With COVID-19 causing ever increasing financial uncertainty around the globe, we thought it an apt time to provide you with a summary of the various corporate insolvency procedures in the UK applicable to companies facing financial difficulties. Taking each in turn, we will discuss administration, administrative receivership, company voluntary arrangements, schemes of arrangement and liquidation. We will also touch briefly on directors’ duties, rules relating to asset distribution on insolvency and transactions that may be set aside on insolvency or ‘reviewable’ transactions.