Can section 234 of the Insolvency Act 1986 serve as a fast-track route for administrators to secure vacant possession of property from trespassers? That was the question before the High Court in the recent case of Maher v Investalet Ltd [2025] EWHC 3133 (Ch).
The facts
Overview
In a recent judgment in Target Insurance Company Limited v Nerico Brothers Limited & Lee Cheuk Fung Jerff [2025] HKCA 1024 the Court of Appeal has clarified that a director can be made personally liable for the costs incurred by a company under their control and that unreasonably opposes its winding up.
Background
It has recently been reported in the press that the project company for England’s largest Private Finance Initiative (PFI) contract is going into liquidation, affecting 88 schools in Stoke-on-Trent.
On 15 December 2025, the Dutch Council of State (CoS; in Dutch: Raad van State) issued a critical opinion on the draft bill on transfer of undertaking in bankruptcy (In Dutch: Wet overgang van onderneming in faillissement, the WOVOF).
In its decision in In re Brandt, the court seems to draw a clear line: No post-petition add-ons for attorneys’ fees and costs when a secured claim arises from a judgment lien.
When state legislatures consider a legislative bill, it’s important that they hear from stakeholders who would be affected by that bill.
Important ABC Stakeholders
When faced with a legislative bill on assignment for benefit of creditors (“ABC”), its important that legislatures hear from a variety of stakeholders, including this important group:
The Property (Digital Assets etc) Act 2025 (the “Act”) came into force on 2 December 2025, providing helpful statutory confirmation that digital assets may be considered “property” as a matter of law in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The Act, working together with current insolvency law, is a significant step in providing further certainty to investors, lenders, and custodians in the digital asset market.
What is insolvency?
Insolvency is defined in section 95A of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth)(Act) as the inability of a company to pay its debts when they fall due. Australian law applies a cash-flow test rather than a balance-sheet test, meaning the inquiry does not turn on the numerical gap between assets and liabilities.
As economic pressures mount and corporate distress becomes increasingly prevalent, lenders and borrowers alike are seeking proactive strategies to safeguard their interests without resorting to immediate enforcement action or commence other restructuring or insolvency proceedings. Whilst lenders typically prefer to avoid the costs and complexities of accelerating loans or enforcing security, they require effective mechanisms to monitor deteriorating financial positions of the borrower and maintain influence over critical business decisions.
Despite meeting statutory jurisdictional requirements under Part 26A of the Companies Act 2006, the High Court declined to exercise its discretion in favour of sanctioning Waldorf Production UK Plc’s restructuring plan in August 2025due to concerns about fair allocation of value and lack of meaningful engagement with unsecured creditors.