Claimant law firms are working hard to develop routes for holding parent companies and their boards responsible for trading activities carried out through subsidiary companies. The recent decision in Aston Risk Management v Jones and others provides clarity on when a registered director of a parent company can be found to be a de facto director of an operating subsidiary.

Companies registered in Myanmar can be voluntarily wound up by its shareholders or creditors or compulsorily wound up by a court order. The voluntary winding up is more common and easier than the compulsory winding up. The key legislations governing the company liquidation are the Insolvency Law 2020 and the Insolvency Rules 2020.

Procedures

A floating charge debenture holder has the advantage that they can enforce their security by appointing their choice of administrators. This is a powerful and useful tool for lenders but is subject to the caveat that the debenture has to be “qualifying”.

On 11 July 2023, Mr Justice Michael Quinn delivered his judgment in the matter of Mac-Interiors Limited (High Court Record No. 2023/90 COS) (the “Company”), which confirmed and clarified ‘a significant and previously undecided point’ regarding the jurisdiction of the Irish courts to appoint an Examiner to a non-EU registered company with its centre of main interests (“COMI”) in Ireland. McCann FitzGerald act for the Company which brought the application.

Yesterday, the Supreme Court (SC) handed down judgment in Philipp v Barclays Bank UK Plc [2023] UKSC 25. In summary, the SC found that banks do not owe a duty to refrain from executing customers’ direct payment instructions where there may be an attempt to defraud the customer.

On 7 July 2022, the UK Government published a consultation on changing UK law to implement two model laws in the field of insolvency that have been adopted by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL). These are:

It's out! The Supreme Court has handed down its keenly awaited judgment on whether banks owe a Quincecare duty not to carry out a customer's instructions in cases of suspected fraud.

In certain circumstances the official liquidator of a Cayman company may be able to take action to recover assets which have been transferred in the run up to the company’s insolvency. It is important for those concerned with the affairs of a Cayman company in the twilight of insolvency to be aware of the statutory powers available to the official liquidator and the Grand Court in the Cayman Islands.

Summary

The Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services inquiry into corporate insolvency in Australia tabled its final report to the Australian Parliament on 12 July 2023.

Key takeouts

On 5 July 2023, the High Court sanctioned the restructuring plan proposed by Prezzo Investco Limited (theCompany) despite opposition from HMRC.