Sanctions regulations won't prevent administration orders but may affect timings and require undertakings

On July 31, 2024, the Supreme Court of Canada provided clarity regarding the treatment of administrative monetary penalties and disgorgement orders resulting from securities violations in Poonian v. British Columbia (Securities Commission).

New rules in the UK allow Companies House to share non-public information with insolvency officeholders and the Official Receiver.

While in many cases there may be limited non-public information available from Companies House that will be useful to insolvency officeholders, this is another tool available to deploy in appropriate cases. It is specifically envisaged to assist officeholders pursuing claims for fraudulent and wrongful trading, transactions at an undervalue and preferences.

Introduction

Dissolution of a company can take place in several ways in the Netherlands. One of these options is turboliquidation, a procedure described in Article 2:19 paragraph 4 of the Dutch Civil Code (BW). The essence of this is that at the time of the dissolution decision, there must no longer be any assets present in the company.

Market overview

In this first of a series of articles looking at current issues and recent case law in the world of distressed PFI/PPP projects, we consider the recent outcome of the Tameside Hospital dispute, and what pointers can be taken from it which may help avoid or resolve disputes in future so that distressed projects can get back on track. This is a tale of disagreement, adjudication, threats of insolvency, Court proceedings and – ultimately – a settlement which may offer a useful benchmark to which other troubled projects can have regard.

In 2023 we published 10 do’s and don’ts for restructuring plans, find our previous article available here. Following on from our initial article we have outlined five more do’s and don’ts reflecting the development of restructuring plans in 2024.

A recent case considered whether a tax avoidance scheme could constitute a transaction defrauding creditors under section 423 of the Insolvency Act 1986 (IA 1986). The decision hinged on whether the transactions were made for a "prohibited purpose" under s423(3)(a).

Facts of Purkiss v Kennedy

Starting life as a market trader, Balvinder Shergill went on to run a number of companies, mostly in the furniture business. Two of his early companies used the trading style Houghton Furnishing. After they stopped doing business, Mr Shergill went on to become involved as a director in five other companies.

The question of whether it is competent for the court to order a retrospective administration order has been the subject of much debate before the English courts. However, until now, there have been no reported Scottish decisions dealing with the point.