Introduction

In a recent decision, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) provided useful clarification on how TUPE operates in insolvency scenarios when a provisional liquidator is appointed. The judgment confirms that the TUPE exception for terminal insolvency proceedings can apply earlier than some employers and buyers may expect, with the result that employee transfer protections may be disapplied before a winding-up order is made.

TUPE and insolvency

It has recently been reported in the press that the project company for England’s largest Private Finance Initiative (PFI) contract is going into liquidation, affecting 88 schools in Stoke-on-Trent.

In early November 2025 one of the biggest UK’s largest private building control firms Assent Building Control Compliance Limited, along with its subsidiaries Oculus Building Consultancy Limited and LB Building Control Limited, (together “Assent”) ceased trading and subsequently entered liquidation. The collapse of such a major player in the building control sector will likely have wide ramifications throughout the whole construction industry, and particularly for HRB developments and the BSR’s Gateway 2 Application process.

The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in CL Financial Ltd (in Liquidation)^[1] has provided helpful guidance on applications for approving liquidators’ remuneration.

Creditors’ statutory demands are a very powerful, and commonly used weapon by creditors.  They are cheap and easy to issue, and the consequences for not dealing with one appropriately can be extremely serious – i.e. liquidation.

Because of this, the courts enforce strict compliance with the requirements imposed on a party seeking to rely on one, so creditors should ensure they are up to date on those requirements.

The concept that a court- or insolvency-appointed director (such as a liquidator or administrator) may “adopt” employment contracts — well known under UK insolvency practice — has no direct equivalent under Hungarian law. Nevertheless, it is important in practice to understand when a managing director becomes the actual addressee of employer obligations.

Hungarian Context

The key actors in Hungarian insolvency and restructuring proceedings are:

Following the publication of our recent article on the voluntary liquidation of solvent limited liability companies (LLCs) in the UAE, an important question was raised by one of the readers: what happens if, during liquidation, it is discovered that the company’s assets are insufficient to discharge all of its debts, and what liability may arise for shareholders or directors in such a case?

If a company faces a situation threatening insolvency, the satisfaction of creditors' claims is at risk. In such cases, the company's managers must prioritize the interests of the creditors, and for failure to do so, they are subject to civil and/or criminal liability, which we describe in this article.

Overview

Liquidator remuneration in insolvency proceedings often raises difficult questions; especially in large corporate collapses where the work is extensive and the stakes are high. Courts must balance fair compensation with creditor protection, but approaches to fee assessment have varied across jurisdictions, leading to uncertainty and dispute.