In Meltzer and Lamacraft v Amstar New Zealand Ltd the High Court highlighted the interplay between insolvency and construction adjudication issues.

The High Court in Meltzer and Lamacraft v Amstar New Zealand Ltd [2020] NZHC 3510 has confirmed that a payee cannot enforce an adjudication determination and may not be able to maintain charging orders if the payer goes into administration.

In a recent High Court decision,[1] Hanlon Plumbing Limited (Hanlon) successfully obtained an interim injunction on a without notice basis requiring Downey Construction Limited (Downey) to pay retention funds into a separate trust account pending determination of Hanlon’s claim.

On 24 September 2020, the Supreme Court released its long-awaited decision in the case of Debut Homes Ltd (In Liquidation) v Cooper [2020] NZSC 100.

The main issue was whether a director was in breach of his directors’ duties under the Companies Act 1993 (Act) by continuing to trade against the background of an insolvent or nearly insolvent company.

The passage and the working of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (Code) is an important landmark in India’s tryst with insolvency and debt restructuring laws. Further, the interpretation provided by the courts, from holding that the Code is not a means for recovery of dues to reinforcing the primacy and commercial wisdom of the committee of creditors, along with appropriate and timely amendments by the legislature in line with the object of the Code has certainly aided in the successful implementation of the Code.

On Friday afternoon the government announced temporary changes it intends to make to the Companies Act 1993 (the Act) to assist companies facing financial stress during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Summary of proposals

The proposed changes include:

As mentioned in Hesketh Henry’s article “COVID-19: Insolvency law changes” (https://www.heskethhenry.co.nz/insights-opinion/covid-19-insolvency-law-changes/), Grant Robertson has announced that the Government will soon be introducing legislation to make temporary changes to the Companies Act 1993 (“Act”) to help companies facing insolvency due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

We have prepared the following tips for businesses to guide them through the current circumstances. Urgent advice should be sought where cash flow problems are arising, or where contractual obligations may not be able to be met. The best protection is preparation.

Talk to the people you deal with

Check in with the people you do business with regularly. This will include:

THE ISSUE

In a recent judgment, i.e., on 17 January 2020, the Indian appellate insolvency tribunal, namely, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) held in M. Ravindranath Reddy v. G. Kishan, that the lease of immovable property cannot be considered as supply of goods or rendering any services and therefore the due amount cannot fall within the definition of operational debt under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (Code).

In the winter of 2015, the Indian Legislature sought to tackle the persistent problem of bad debts affecting Indian financial institutions and trade creditors by enacting the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (“Code”), which was finally notified in May 2016. The key purpose of the enactment was to consolidate and amend the laws relating to reorganization and insolvency resolution of corporate persons, partnership firms and individuals in a time bound manner for maximization of value of assets of such persons / entities. 

Following our previous updates (Ebert Construction Receivership – What You Need to Know and Ebert Construction – Receivership and Liquidation), on 12 November 2018 the High Court ordered that the Receivers of Ebert Construction Ltd (in rec and liq) (Ebert) be appointed as the receivers