Recovery of legal costs in insolvency proceedings can be a difficult procedure, as the ability of counsel to claim costs depends on the work performed, the timing of the work, and for whom the work was done.
Treasury makes banking insolvency rules: Treasury has made insolvency and administration rules covering building societies in England and Scotland and amended the English rules on banks in insolvency and administration and the Scottish rules on banking insolvencies. The English rules, among other changes, provide for the statement of proposals to be sent to FSA and FSCS and for the disapplication of set-off for protected deposits up to FSCS's statutory limit. The Scottish instruments apply to insolvencies of banks and building societies under the Banking Act 2009.
Treasury is consulting on how to improve protection and payment of benefits for policyholders of insurers who get into financial difficulty. Historically, few insurers have been put into administration or liquidation, and none have been so seriously affected in the recent crisis. So Treasury thinks it is time to review the regime and suggests changes that would:
The Supreme Court of Canada ruled that bankruptcy trustees, receivers and secured creditors can continue to collect the full amount of accounts receivable of a bankrupt supplier, including the Goods and Services Tax (GST) component, even if an amount remains owing by the supplier to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).
The European High Yield Association (a trade association representing participants in the European leveraged finance market) is calling for new restructuring laws, warning that the existing regime makes it more likely that a company in financial difficulties will collapse.
Libby Elliott looks at the proposals, which are designed to create a formal procedure for restructuring distressed companies.
The need for change
The relationships in this case must be understood in order to understand the arguments put forward.
The business community is going to see an increase in default claims due to the mounting credit crisis. Many companies will not survive in such an environment and a wave of insolvencies is likely to ensue. The prospect of this has forced the State Duma to focus on developing a robust response. New bills, which would transform the Russian insolvency landscape, are currently under consideration.
On September 15, 2008, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. ("Lehman Holdings") filed for Chapter 11 in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York (Case No. 08-13555). None of Lehman Holdings’ U.S. subsidiaries have filed for bankruptcy at this point. In addition, while Lehman Holdings has certain subsidiaries that are regulated entities (e.g., banks, insurance companies, etc.), none of those entities has yet been placed into any kind of insolvency proceeding by the applicable regulators.
In Father & Son Investments Inc. v. Maverick Brewing Corp. (2007), 2007 CarswellAlta 1452 (Alta. Q.B.), Maverick Brewing Corporation (“Maverick”) operated a brewery in Edmonton in space leased from Five Oaks Inc. (“Five Oaks”). The two major creditors of Maverick were Father & Son Investments Inc. (“Father & Son”) and Five Oaks. Pursuant to a postponement and subordination of security interest document, Five Oaks had priority over Father & Son to the assets of Maverick.
The stringent regulations introduced to avoid the spread of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic caused widespread disruption across UK sites. The consequent commercial challenges were too great for some businesses − despite government measures to help those facing financial difficulty. Inevitably, insolvencies followed.