Many businesses are continuing to struggle as a result of the ongoing pandemic and while many will bounce back, unfortunately others may struggle. If your company’s solvency is at risk or could be in the future, as a director there are various legal issues and responsibilities you need to be aware of.

Here we take a look at directors duties.

What are director’s duties?

Generally, its directors owe the following duties to a company:

• to act bona fide in its interests

• not to act for any personal or collateral purpose

With Hertz emerging from a bankruptcy with a positive result for shareholders, we are reminded of the interplay between the equity markets and the bankruptcy alternative.

Some firms facing financial challenges during the pandemic were able to avoid a bankruptcy filing altogether because of their ability to raise the necessary funds through an equity offering. Hertz provides an example of a situation where the bankruptcy filing instead of wiping out the equity enhanced value.

Dieses Legal Update ist Teil einer Reihe, mit welcher die für Praktiker relevanten Änderungen zum Aktienrecht in kondensierter Form dargestellt werden. Bereits publizierte Legal Updates finden Sie auf unserer Website unter Aktienrechtsrevision 2020. Neue Legal Updates zum Thema Aktienrechtsreform werden regelmässig an unsere Newsletter-Subscriber verschickt und auf unserer Website publiziert.

Übersicht

Some further important guidance by Zacaroli J in the recent judgment on Hurricane Energy. In that case, the company (with the support of the company's ad hoc committee of bond holders who were going to take 95% of the equity under the plan in return for certain adjustments to the bonds) sought to cram down the class of dissenting shareholders through a restructuring plan ("plan").

Section 90-15 of the Insolvency Practice Schedule (the IPS) confers on Courts wide powers to adjust rights related to companies in external administration. Here, the administrators of a mining group obtained orders approving their entry into a deed to fund the ongoing operation of the group pending sale and limiting their liability under the deed to the company’s assets. The Court accepted the administrators’ evidence that this funding was urgently required to continue the Group’s operations pending a sale, the prospects of which were thereby maximised.

This note summarises the duties that directors of companies incorporated in England and Wales are subject to

This note summarises the duties that directors of companies incorporated in England and Wales are subject to.

This note explains those duties, and matters that directors should consider in relation to them, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Directors' Duties and Related Matters, in the Context of COVID-19

EMEA UK 2 July 2021

Scope and Purpose of This Note

This note summarises the duties that directors of companies incorporated in England and Wales are subject to.

This note explains those duties, and matters that directors should consider in relation to them, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mr Justice Zacaroli has handed down his judgment in Hurricane Energy plc [2021] EWHC 1759 (Ch).

Summary

• The Court declined to approve the cross-class cram down of Hurricane’s shareholders as part of the Part 26A restructuring plan because the available evidence did not demonstrate that the shareholders were “no worse off” as a result of the restructuring plan. On that basis the restructuring plan failed.

In another move to protect small business owners, the Federal Government has permanently raised the minimum debt required to serve a statutory demand from $2,000 to $4,000, effective today.

The increase was introduced by the Corporations Amendment (Statutory Minimum) Regulations 2021 (Cth) (Regulations). The new threshold applies to all statutory demands served on or after 1 July 2021. The 21-day period to comply with a statutory demand remains unchanged.

From 1 July 2021, directors in the UK could be subject to a wrongful trading claim if their company goes into liquidation or administration.

Wrongful trading

This means that directors may be personally liable to contribute to the company’s assets: