The High Court has reaffirmed the test to be applied in considering an application to dismiss a bankruptcy summons grounded on a judgment.

The bankruptcy process in Ireland involves multiple steps and the debtor can seek to bring it to a halt at each step. Debtors often seek to rerun effectively the same arguments at each step, ignoring previous findings by the courts. One such step is an application to dismiss a bankruptcy summons.

On 30 November the Supreme Court delivered its written judgment dealing with the correct test for insolvency when considering the eligibility of a debtor for a Personal Insolvency Arrangement (PIA) under the Personal Insolvency Act 2012 (as amended).

Background

One of the qualifying criteria for a PIA is that the debtor must demonstrate that the debtor is “insolvent” within the meaning of section 2(1) of the Personal Insolvency Act 2012. That provision defines the term as meaning “that the debtor is unable to pay his or her debts in full as they fall due”.

After years of litigation involving state, federal, Irish, and (to a lesser extent) Swiss law; transfers of numerous assets, including Ireland’s priciest-personal residence; a jury trial; and extensive post-trial briefing, the Second Circuit made short shrift of a former real estate mogul and his ex-wife’s appeal of a judgment rendered against them for fraudulent conveyances.

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).

The scheme of arrangement (Rescue Plan) prepared by the examiner of Mac Interiors Limited (Company) has not been approved by the High Court following strong objections from the Revenue Commissioners (Revenue).

In its challenge, Revenue argued that there had been an error in “class composition” or, in other words, an error in the classification of creditors that voted on the Rescue Plan.

Class Composition

Executive Summary

In a radical departure from settled case law, the English High Court has eroded the protections of English law creditors guaranteed by the Rule in Gibbs¹ .

Certain amendments to the reckless trading provisions of section 610 of the Companies Act 2014 contained in the Employment (Collective Redundancies and Miscellaneous Provisions) and Companies (Amendment) Act 2024Opens in new window (the “Act”) came into force on 1 July 2024 (pursuant to S.I. 303 of 2024).

The financial thresholds of the Small Companies Administrative Rescue Procedure (SCARP) have been increased, meaning that SCARP is now a potential option for a larger number of companies in Ireland.

SCARP, which was introduced in 2021, aims to provide a cost-effective restructuring option for viable but insolvent companies. It is available to small and micro companies as defined in the Companies Act and is not an option for larger companies, which must use other restructuring mechanisms.

ACT WHICH ENHANCES PROTECTION FOR EMPLOYEES AFFECTED BY INSOLVENCY NOW LAW

The Employment (Collective Redundancies and Miscellaneous Provisions) and Companies (Amendment) Act 2024Opens in new window (the “Act”) was signed into law by the President on 9 May 2024 and will commence with effect from 1 July 2024.