In this article we will cover the notice requirements for an out of court administration appointment by a company or its directors, and look at the recent case of Re Tokenhouse VB Ltd (Formerly VAT Bridge 7 Ltd) [2020] EWHC 3171 (Ch).
The notice requirements
On 8 October the Insolvency Service published a report on pre-pack sales in administrations, together with draft regulations imposing a mandatory referral to independent scrutiny in the case of pre-packaged sales to connected parties.
This article, written by Tim Carter and Helen Martin, considers the background to the proposed regulations, their content and their potential impact.
Background
Perseverance, dear my lord Keeps honour bright: to have done, is to hang Quite out of fashion, like a rusty mail In monumental mockery William Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida
Styles & Wood (In Administration) v GE CIF Trustees (unreported) (County Court at Central London)
On 29 September 2020 the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 (Coronavirus) (Extension of the Relevant Period) Regulations 2020 came into force. To keep this snippy, we’ll refer to these new Regulations as “CIGAR”.
Op 26 mei 2020 heeft de Tweede Kamer het wetsvoorstel Wet Homologatie Onderhands Akkoord (WHOA) aangenomen. Als de Eerste Kamer dit voorstel eveneens goedkeurt, is de WHOA een feit en kunnen huurder-schuldenaars die in financiële nood verkeren onder voorwaarden wijzigingen laten aanbrengen in lopende huurovereenkomsten, of deze zelfs geheel doen eindigen. De verwachting is dat de WHOA op 1 januari 2021 in werking zal treden.
On 4 September 2020, the High Court sanctioned a restructuring plan of Virgin Atlantic Airways Limited (Virgin) under the new Part 26A of the Companies Act 2006, brought in by the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 (CIGA); this is the first time the court has sanctioned a restructuring plan under the new Part 26A.
LAW & TAX Swiss Restructuring & Insolvency in a nutshell loyensloeff.com LAW & TAX Introduction Ever-changing market conditions require businesses to continuously monitor their earnings and liquidity situation as well as their debt structure. In addition, the overall economic situation remains uncertain and asks for continued operational flexibility and resilience. Thus, it is not surprising that companies need to rethink their organisational obligations in restructuring and insolvency situations.
Assuming the Pizza Express company voluntary arrangement (CVA) follows the approach taken by other casual diners and retailers who have also launched CVAs recently, we can predict with some confidence what the Pizza Express CVA proposal might say.
The recent High Court decision in Hellard & Anor v Registrar of Companies & Ors [2020] EWHC 1561 (Ch) (23 June 2020) serves as a useful reminder to any party seeking the restoration of a company to the Register of Companies that it is important first to consider whether such party has the requisite standing to make the application.
New restrictions contained in the Corporate Governance & Insolvency Act 2020 now in force severely impact the steps creditors can take to get payment of an undisputed debt owed by a company.
Creditors cannot now use statutory demands to threaten that a company will be wound up if it does not pay what is owed. This is because any statutory demand made between 1 March 2020 and 30 September 2020 will be void.