EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Balance has been tipping over from creditors to shareholders and the pandemic is only bringing this deepening fault line to the fore.
Covid-19 slammed into the global consciousness this March and, as expected, immediately torpedoed the markets.
But despite the worsening economic data hogging news headlines, exacerbated by intensifying US-China tensions, the markets have paradoxically strengthened since. The S&P 500 has rebounded by more than 30 per cent since its March nadir, breaching its five-year pre-Covid-19 high.
The financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has put pressure on a wide range of structures and, as a result, lenders, borrowers and other counterparties are looking more closely at the impact of possible insolvency proceedings. As Jersey entities are often used in cross-border finance transactions, it is important to be aware of the differences between Jersey and English insolvency procedures for companies, trusts and limited partnerships.
What are the main Jersey insolvency procedures for a Jersey company?
These are:
Statutory demands are often conflated with other debt recovery mechanisms available to creditors. Whilst a statutory demand may, in certain circumstances, be a useful tool in the debt recovery kit, its primary function is to establish whether a company can pay its debts as they fall due i.e. whether it satisfies the “cash flow test”.
In Guernsey, a company must pass both the cash flow and balance sheet solvency tests to meet the definition of solvency.
Statutory demand is a common and important tool in the winding up process. But recently, the Hong Kong Court of First Instance has reminded us that it is by no means a must.
One of the temporary measures that was not extended was the disapplication of the wrongful trading rules of section 214 of the Insolvency Act 1986 as regards the personal liability of company directors. The discontinuation of the temporary protection has been criticised by business and most recently by the Institute of Directors (IoD) which commented that "Failing to extend the suspension of wrongful trading rules was a mistake. Without this protection, the pressure is on directors to simply shut up shop when faced with difficulty". Is that concern justified?
The Division Bench of the Hon’ble High Court of Kerala comprising of Chief Justice S Manikumar and Justice Shaji P Chaly in Sulochana Gupta and another v. RBG Enterprises Pvt Ltd and others, has recently ruled that the Writ Jurisdiction of the High Court under Article 226 cannot be invoked to challenge an order passed by National Company Law Tribunal (hereinafter referred to as “NCLT”).
Western financial centres see insolvency proceedings as gateways to potential business rescue. In Asia, insolvency is seen as a procedure ending in liquidation.
IN ASIA, there has traditionally been a stigma associated with corporate insolvencies. The taint of insolvency can be hugely value-destructive; it can destroy the goodwill of the business, and brand the managers and controllers as failures and social outcasts.
When a business is distressed and is due to run out of cash, advisors are often called upon to carry out an accelerated M&A process. Whilst there may be scope for the process to be run on a solvent (share sale) basis, it may need to be implemented on an assets basis, often via a formal insolvency process. Because of the undeniable threat of insolvency, directors of distressed businesses should obtain specialist legal advice on their duties at the earliest possible stage.
Board considerations
The past year has seen some important judgments and hearings (with judgment awaited at the time of writing) on several subjects, some of which may shape the future of UK litigation for years to come. Litigants and litigators have also spent a good part of the year getting used to a new way of conducting litigation—remotely and fully electronically. Starting with contract law, while there has been little by way of Supreme Court guidance on the subject, the lower courts continue to issue interesting judgments.