Summary

English insolvency law is about to change, making it harder for IT suppliers to stop supplying when a customer goes into an insolvency procedure. The aim is to help administrators and others to secure the supply of IT products and services that might be needed to rescue failing businesses. 

Dealing with subject access requests (“SAR”s) under the Data Protection Act 1998 is becoming a regular occurrence for many organisations, particularly banks and their advisors.  Processing such requests can take up significant manpower and the costs can be substantial.  Whilst designed to allow individuals to access personal data, determine its source, why it is held and who it is shared with, in reality SARs are frequently being used as a fishing exercise for prospective litigation and complaints against institutions such as banks.  The recent case of 

The Insolvency (Protection of Essential Supplies) Order 2015 which comes in to force on 1 October 2015 significantly changes the options available for suppliers of IT services in relation to their rights against insolvent customers. Any IT supplier caught within the definition of the new legislation will need to beware that they can no longer insist on payment of outstanding invoices as a condition of continued supply to an insolvent business, nor rely on clauses applying automatic price rises upon insolvency of the customer.

UK LEGAL HIGHLIGHTS 2014 AND BEYOND Welcome to our 2014 edition of UK Legal Highlights. This publication is a reminder of some of the most important and significant developments DLA Piper reported in 2014, along with some forthcoming developments to look out for in 2015 and beyond.

The UK Government has released a long awaited consultation document proposing new controls on IT suppliers’ dealings with customers facing insolvency.

To a degree this brings the termination provisions of the UK’s insolvency rescue regimes (administration and company voluntary arrangements) in line with some other jurisdictions, such as the US, which, broadly, do not allow supplier termination for customer insolvency.

The High Court has confirmed that all rights relating to the control of data belonging to, or being controlled by, a company at the time it entered into liquidation remain vested in the company at and following its liquidation. Liquidators are therefore not personally liable for compliance with the Data Protection Act 1998 in respect of this data as they will be viewed as agents acting for the company rather than as 'data controllers'.

A judgment recently handed down from the High Court clarifies the obligations of liquidators under the Data Protection Act 1998, providing them with greater personal protection from fines or other sanctions.

Reed Smith acted for the liquidators in their application for directions.

Background

VLM Holdings Limited –v- Ravensworth Digital Services Limited [2013] EWHC 228 (Ch)

Précis – In February 2013, the High Court ruled that businesses are permitted to use software under a sub-licence if the head licensee’s business is terminated or becomes insolvent. This ruling, however, is dependent upon the “scope of authority” given to the sub-licensor by the head licensor.

What?

The UK government has just proposed a number of amendments to the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill (currently being considered by Parliament) which will impact on IT suppliers if they become law.

Bill Amendments

Summary: Robin Ganguly explains predictive coding and technology assisted review for trial use, and how the technology might be used for insolvency investigations.