Introduction
The Supreme Court, in a judgment delivered today, in J.D. Brian Motors Limited, trading as Belgard Motors, (In Liquidation) (and related companies) allowed the appeal of the Official Liquidator, Tom Kavanagh of Deloitte, to set aside two declarations made by Ms Justice Finlay Geoghegan in the High Court in two separate judgments in 2011.
The Role of the Liquidator
NEW GOVERNMENT LEGISLATION PROGRAMME: INDUSTRY & SECTOR SPECIFIC BREAKDOWN 19 JANUARY 2015 The Irish Government has published its legislation programme for the Spring/Summer 2015 parliamentary session. There are 32 Bills which are currently before the Oireachtas. In addition, there are 137 proposed Bills set out in the Programme, 41 of which the Government intends publishing during the Spring/Summer Session.
The Court of Appeal commenced its operations on 5 November 2014.
The reason for the establishment of the Court of Appeal was the huge backlog which had built up in the Supreme Court, where it could take up to four and a half years for a case to be heard.
Mr. Justice Sean Ryan is President of the Court which is comprised of nine judges in addition to the President. Six of these nine positions were filled by previous High Court Judges such as Mr. Justice Kelly, Ms. Justice Finlay Geoghegan and Mr. Justice Peart.
The Companies Act 2014 (the "Act") was recently passed by the Irish parliament and is expected to be brought into force on 1 June 2015 (the "Commencement Date"). The Act is largely a consolidation and modernisation exercise.
However, there are a number of significant areas which modify existing companies legislation and which lenders will need to consider both in the run-up to the Commencement Date and afterwards. In particular these relate to:
With the current financial difficulties faced by the oil & gas industry, directors of companies incorporated in England and Wales must be mindful of their duties and responsibilities to the company as well as the potential personal liability that could arise from breaching those duties and responsibilities in the context of an insolvency.
Who qualifies as a director?
The High Court has found two former directors of a car dealership in Dublin, Appleyard Motors Limited (In Liquidation) (Appleyard), personally liable to a former customer who paid for but did not receive three vehicles in the weeks leading up to the company’s liquidation. This case is particularly noteworthy as it is only the second time a director has been held personally liable for a company’s debts for reckless trading.
On 13 May 2015, the Government announced that it intends to give the courts the power to overrule the rejection by secured creditors of arrangements under the Personal Insolvency Act 2012 (the “Act”).
There is scant detail in the announcement save that it is intended to “support mortgage holders who are in arrears” and that legislation is to be brought forward before the Summer recess. How is such legislation likely to work and what potential frailties could it have?
The Issue
The recent decision of the Supreme Court in the case of In the matter of Sean Dunne (a bankrupt) has confirmed that it is possible for a debtor to be adjudicated a bankrupt under the laws of Ireland notwithstanding the fact that the debtor has already been adjudicated a bankrupt in another jurisdiction which is not subject to the European Insolvency Regulation.
Summary