In FamilyMart China Holding Co Ltd (Respondent) v Ting Chuan (Cayman Islands) Holding Corporation (Appellant) (Cayman Islands) [2023] UKPC 33, the Privy Council has provided useful guidance about the interplay between an arbitration agreement and exercise of the Cayman court’s powers and discretion to wind up a company on just and equitable grounds.
Where a winding up petition is based on a debt arising from a contract with a non-Hong Kong exclusive jurisdiction clause, the court will tend to dismiss or stay the winding up petition in favour of the parties’ agreed forum unless there are strong countervailing factors.
On Wednesday 27 September 2023, Mishcon de Reya hosted the first in a new series of Disputes Essentials breakfast seminars, which aim to provide the latest updates and practical insights on essential dispute-related topics.
Following the news of Birmingham City Council’s recent ‘bankruptcy’, it began a procedure under section 114 of the Local Government Finance Act 1988 which triggers an interim spending freeze whilst a mandatory review is carried out.
Those who transact with local authorities may be unsure of what the impact of such a notice means for their ongoing deals and existing contracts. This article aims to demystify the process and explain the potential impact on property transactions, including issues to consider for existing agreements with a local authority.
In September 2023, the insolvency administrator of the insolvent Wirecard AG began reclaiming dividend distributions for 2017 and 2018 from shareholders. This is following a judgment of the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) in March 2023 (BGH judgment of March 30, 2023 – IX ZR 121/22). In that judgment the BGH ruled that in the event of a company’s insolvency, the insolvency administrator can demand back dividend payments made to shareholders for up to four years pursuant to section 134 (1) of the Insolvency Code (InsO).
Last week marked another instalment in the notorious insolvency of Comet Group plc (Comet) when the Court of Appeal unanimously set aside the decision of the High Court at first instance which, at the time, was claimed to be the largest successful preference claim in value, resulting in Darty Holdings SAS (successor to Kesa International Ltd (KIL)) being ordered to pay approximately GBP90 million to the liquidators of Comet.
Dispute Resolution analysis: In a second appeal, the Court of Appeal has upheld the decisions of two lower Courts in concluding that due to the conduct of a bankrupt and his insolvency, his bankruptcy should not (on an exercise of discretion) be annulled, despite concluding that the bankruptcy order should not have been made.
Khan v Singh-Sall and another [2023] EWHC 1119 (Ch)
What are the practical implications of this case?
Insolvency statistics for August were recently released and the number of companies entering into formal insolvency processes is the highest it has been for several years.
The economic outlook isn’t great, with the IMF predicting growth in the UK will be lowest of all the G7, off the back of pandemics, wars, energy crises, labour shortages, and borderline hyperinflation.
1. SOLVENCY II 1.1 Solvency II Directive review: ECON agrees position on Solvency II Directive review On 27 July 2023, the European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) published a report on its agreed position on the Proposal for a Directive amending the Solvency II Directive1 (Proposed Directive).