The Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 (“the Act”) came into force on 25 June 2020 making sweeping changes to the current insolvency legislative framework. This article will focus on Section 14 of the Act and its effect on suppliers of insolvent companies. These provisions had been in consideration for some time before the pandemic. They are permanent provisions unlike some other provisions in the Act which appear to have been brought in on a temporary basis as part of the government’s support package for businesses.
The effect of Section 14
The European Preventive Restructuring Framework offers different ways to help companies impacted by COVID-19. Here’s what you need to know.
In brief
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to four groups of companies emerging, each with different needs for restructuring. The new European framework may prove helpful for those companies who cannot currently cover debts, but who don’t have an acute liquidity problem. Financial restructuring may be the best option to allow companies with valid business models to return to profitability.
The Australian government has taken swift action to enact new legislation that significantly changes the insolvency laws relevant to all business as a result of the ongoing developments related to COVID-19
Different countries frame the exact description of the role of directors of a company in different terms. One feature is common to all – the obligation not to continue trading if a company is insolvent. Again, the detailed implications of doing so vary from one jurisdiction to another. However, this obligation not to continue wrongful trading is at the heart of trust in a market-based economic system
Rumours that a company is in the zone of insolvency may create a race to the assets, with potential creditors or interested parties commencing proceedings in an attempt to secure payment from the company before its assets are fully dissipated or tied up in the insolvency process. This can destroy the collective value in the enterprise or scupper a restructuring and result in significant duplicative costs.
The Finance Act received Royal Assent on 22 July 2020, bringing in significant changes for the restructuring market, as well as businesses that become insolvent.
The two principal measures being brought in are:
New legislation has been introduced in the UK which restricts the rights of parties to construction contracts to terminate or even suspend work. This means that even if your contract says you can terminate or suspend – for example, for non-payment – you may not in the future be able to exercise this right. These reforms are likely to lead to significant changes to how parties operate their contracts and credit lines.
For years, small business debtors have struggled with the intricacies of Chapter 11, the debt limitations of Chapter 13 and Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidations. Stringent requirements and procedural hurdles often made restructuring a prohibitively expensive option for many small business debtors. Congress attempted to address these issues with H.R. 3311, the Small Business Reorganization Act (the “SBRA”). The SBRA, which was signed into law on August 23, 2019, creates a new subchapter, Subchapter V, of Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code.
The liquidators of a subsidiary company had submitted a proof in the CVA of the parent company. The proof was based upon a claim under section 239 of the Insolvency Act 1986 (IA86) that certain payments by the parent to the subsidiary had amounted to unlawful preferences of the company. The liquidators appealed against the decision by the supervisor of the CVA to reject that proof.
The Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has recently issued a press release regarding proposed changes in the law to better protect consumers in the event that a company, and in particular a retailer, becomes insolvent.
Under existing law, if a company becomes insolvent but goods prepaid for are still in its possession, they may be considered as assets belonging to the business and can be used by administrators to pay off the company’s debts.