In Bridge Trustees Limited v Noel Penny, Judge Purle QC, sitting as an additional Judge of the High Court, held that the Court could use its inherent jurisdiction to permit an independent trustee to distribute surplus in a scheme that was winding-up. Under the Pensions Act 1995, an independent trustee is appointed to exercise powers otherwise conferred on the employer where an insolvency practitioner begins to act in relation to a company.

Philip Bell v Philip Long, Andrew Thomson, PKF and Weatherall Green & Smith (North) Limited [2008] EWHC 1273 (Ch)

Background

The receiver's duty to exercise care in disposing of the company's assets and to ensure he obtains the best price reasonably obtainable at the time of sale was considered recently in the English case of Bell v Long & Others.

The court will not assist a former bankrupt to enforce his interests under an unlawful trust where the purpose of the trust initially had been to deprive the trustee in bankruptcy of the bankrupt's interest.

The Court of Appeal in Haine v Secretary of State for Business Enterprise & Regulatory Reform has held that where redundancies are made in breach of obligations to carry out collective consultation and the employer then goes into insolvency, a protective award subsequently ordered by an employment tribunal is a debt in the liquidation.

Impact on employers

Re Cheyne Finance PLC

The UK courts recently interpreted the definition of insolvency in a way which can lead to an insolvency default being triggered earlier than before.

In its judgment in Haine v Sec of State for BERR and the liquidator of Compounds Section Ltd the Court of Appeal has decided an important question on employer insolvency.

Gleave and others v The Board of the Pension Protection Fund [2008] EWHC 1099 (Ch)

The High Court ruled that calculations of employer debt by scheme actuaries cannot be challenged by insolvency practitioners unless there is evidence of fraud or error.

One of the significant changes to distributions in insolvency made by the Enterprise Act 2002 was the abolition of the preferential status of debts owed to the Crown and the introduction of a provision for the creation of a ‘ring-fenced fund’ (also known as the “prescribed part”, an amount currently capped at £600,000) from the proceeds of floating charges created after 15 September 2003 to be applied in distribution to unsecured creditors.

Many local authorities are involved in large and expensive projects. It is often the case that costs and timetables for projects will be tight. Therefore any problems that arise on site or with the contractor will have serious consequences for the local authority and its ability to complete the project on time and on budget.

One of the worst headaches a local authority can face during a project is the main building contractor becoming insolvent during the course of a construction project.

In Masri v Consolidated Contractors International Company SAL and another – Butterworths Law Direct 4.4.08 the principal issues on the appeal were whether the Commercial Court had international jurisdiction to make an order for the appointment of a receiver by way of equitable execution, and a freezing order, and whether a receivership order could be made by way of equitable execution in relation to future debts.