The insolvency of a premises licence holder has an immediate impact from a licensing perspective. Most premises licences are granted in perpetuity. They can be surrendered by the holder, temporarily lapse if annual fees are not paid, or be revoked following a review. These are actions the licence holder either proactively instigates or is given notice of. However, a licence lapsing because of insolvency is different because the premises licence holder may be unaware that a licence has lapsed and it may be too late to rectify matters when the lapse is brought to their attention.

Trustees in Bankruptcy seeking to make distributions to a creditor who may be subject to UK sanctions should follow the guidance in the recent case of Thomas, Carter, Nilsson (as the joint trustees in bankruptcy of Nikolay Fetisov and Ilya Yurov) and PJSC National Bank Trust [2025] EWHC 75 (Ch).

Background

TLT were instructed to act on behalf of the joint Trustees in Bankruptcy of two Russian individuals, Nikolay Fetisov and Ilya Yurov.

Overview

We asked our team for their predictions of what they think 2025 might bring in the Property Disputes sector.

Insolvencies and Restructuring

Author - Thomas H. Curran

Firm -Thomas H. Curran Associates

Seán Dunne, the once-buccaneering property developer who embodied the hubris of the Celtic Tiger boom and now the ravages of the bust, will be 73 years old when he finally exits bankruptcy.

Facts are stubborn things, but statistics, according to Mark Twain, are pliable. While the author of Tom Sawyer likely wasn’t thinking about the annual UK insolvency statistics, they certainly illustrate his point. The Telegraph uses the 2024 statistics, released Tuesday, to criticise Rachel Reeves, suggesting that an increase in compulsory liquidations in 2024 is a direct result of the October budget. Given that the financial impact of the budget will not be felt directly by businesses until April 2025, this is very much a case of putting the cart before the horse.

Published on 21 January 2025, In the matter of Restore Builders Limited [2024] JRC290 (“Restore Builders”), is the first time the Royal Court of Jersey (“Court”) has made a wrongful trading order.

As discussed below, the Court held that Thomas McLaughlin (“Respondent”) be disqualified as a company director for 10 years, and be personally responsible for the debts of Restore Builders Limited (“Company”).

The Federal Court of Australia has recently delivered judgment in the case of Deputy Commissioner of Taxation v ACN 152 259 839 Pty Ltd [2024] FCA 1489. The Court held that in some circumstances, a statutory demand can be validly served on a perceived temporarily empty company office.

On 20 May 2024, an ATO officer purported to serve ACN 152 259 839 Pty Ltd (the Company) with a statutory demand and an accompanying affidavit by leaving the documents at the Company’s registered office.

Contract Natural Gas Limited v ZOG Energy Ltd [1] is the first post-Enterprise Act 2002 judgment on the effect of administration on limitation. After reviewing existing authority and statute, the Court confirmed that (among other things) time does not stop running for limitation purposes when a company enters a post-Enterprise Act administration. Fraser Ritson, Aziz Abdul and Brian Rostron acted for Joshua Dwyer and William Wright in their capacity as the joint liquidators of Contract Natural Gas Limited – in Liquidation.

Historically, a GP’s source of liquidity was self-generated. Whether through management fees or house carry, sources of cash for a sponsor came from within the sponsor’s structure. This, not surprisingly, places inherent limitations on the manager’s ability to grow the business, facilitate succession planning and achieve other strategic objectives.

Running a business involves taking risks in order to continue to scale new grounds. Sometimes, these risks may not be successful, leading to debts. Even without risks, debts may be incurred as a result of not being able to generate profits due to the changing market trends. Thus, loss in business and falling into debts are a common and universal factor in the business world.