In brief
The UK Supreme Court has handed down its long-awaited judgment in relation to the case of BTI 2014 LLC (Appellant) v. Sequana SA and others (Respondents) [2022] UKSC 25, concerning the duty of directors of a company registered under the Companies Act 2006 to consider (and act in accordance with) the interests of the company’s creditors.
Contents
Commercial court powers have been amended to achieve the speed and efficiency required by EU regulations.
Eight lessons from previous recessions
It does not take a professional economist to predict that a serious economic downturn is possible in the UK. Given that workforces will be impacted by this, many companies providing workforce support services are likely to be particularly affected.
The Hong Kong Court of Appeal has confirmed that the court should respect the effect of an exclusive jurisdiction clause in bankruptcy proceedings, just as it does in ordinary civil actions. To do otherwise, it said, it would be illogical.
This week’s TGIF examines the decision in Re Farley Bay (in liq) [2022] VSC 604, where an insolvency proceeding was successfully transferred to the Federal Circuit and Family Court despite the Supreme Court of Victoria considering the Applicant’s ultimate proprietary claims to be ‘weak’.
Key takeaways
The Restructuring Directive of 20 June 2019 harmonises insolvency legislation for the first time at the European level.
An important part of this Directive concerns preventive restructuring frameworks, which aim to limit the unnecessary liquidation of viable companies.
In Belgium, this will mainly impact judicial reorganisation, and more specifically judicial reorganisation by means of collective agreement.
La directive du 20 juin 2019 relative aux restructurations harmonise pour la première fois la législation sur l'insolvabilité au niveau européen.
Une partie importante de cette directive concerne les cadres de restructuration préventive, qui visent à limiter la liquidation inutile d'entreprises viables.
En Belgique, cela aura principalement un impact sur la réorganisation judiciaire, et plus particulièrement sur la réorganisation judiciaire par accord collectif.
This is an important update in the Australian corporate and insolvency law context because, in BTI 2014 LLC v Sequana SA and others [2022] UKSC 25, the UK Supreme Court (being the UK’s highest court) confirmed the existence of a duty owed by directors to creditors in certain circumstances (creditor duty). Under the common law and equity (together, general law), there is a gateway to applicability of the creditor duty in Australia.
An extension to the Debt Warehousing Scheme has been announced by the Revenue Commissioners.
The Debt Warehousing Scheme (DWS) was introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic to provide support to businesses that were experiencing liquidity and trading difficulties. It has permitted businesses to “warehouse” or defer payment of their tax debts for a specified period.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit entered its (second) opinion in the case of In re Ultra Petroleum Corporation, Case No. 21-20008, on October 14, 2022, potentially widening a circuit split on the issue of “make-whole” payments. With the circuit split potentially growing, this issue could be ripe for a grant of certiorari.