The Commercial Court recently held that the Defendant, a former majority beneficial owner of the Claimant bank, had acted dishonestly and in breach of duties owed to the Claimant in causing the Claimant to advance monies in eight transactions which had not been repaid or recovered, to a borrower closely connected to the Defendant
Background
FACTS:
InHinton v Wotherspoon [2016] EWHC 623 (CH), Jason Freedman and Aziz Abdul successfully secured an Income Payments Order (“IPO”) on behalf of the Trustee in Bankruptcy.
The court also provided useful guidance on the correct position where a bankrupt has made an election to draw down from his private pension but not given specific instructions as to application of the funds.
LEGAL BACKGROUND:
The Facts
A owned two properties, one of which had been divided into two separately rateable properties for council tax purposes. R presented a bankruptcy petition against A based on a purported debt of £14,097.59 owed by A in respect of unpaid council tax for which it had obtained liability orders from the Magistrates Court.
Key Points
- Court held notice to scheme creditors (here two weeks) was not sufficient in light of complexity of scheme
- Court also highlighted deficiencies in supporting documentation
The Facts
Key Points
- Directors should take (and follow) advice from insolvency practitioners as early as possible in distressed situations in order to protect themselves from liability.
- If a company does continue to trade “wrongfully”, the directors must be able to demonstrate that they have taken all steps to reduce losses to individual creditors, as well as creditors as a whole. However, no order should be made unless the deficiency for creditors as a whole is increased in the period of wrongful trading.
The Facts
The Facts
On 31 July 2012, a bankruptcy order was made in respect of Mr Dean Jonathan D’Eye on the basis of a statutory demand dated 11 July 2011.
During their investigations, his trustees in bankruptcy discovered that Mr D’Eye had made a payment of £321,919 to his father on 24 January 2012 (the Payment) and, after the presentation of the bankruptcy petition on 28 May 2012, a significant portion of this money had then been used to purchase a flat (the Flat).
The Facts
Mr Shlosberg, a Russian businessman domiciled in England who was made bankrupt in January of last year, has obtained an injunction restraining Dechert LLP from acting on behalf of the main claimant, Avonwick Holdings Limited (Avonwick) in proceedings in which he is a defendant.
From 1 April 2016, conditional fee agreements (CFA), after the event premiums and success fees will no longer be recoverable in insolvency cases.
The legislative change is set to have the biggest impact on lower-value insolvency cases (damages less than £500,000 and legal costs lower than £200,000).
The Key Provisions
After much delay, the Third Parties (Rights Against Insurers) Act 2010 (the “Act”) will come into force on 1 August 2016. The essential purpose of the act is to aid claimants in procuring recoveries from the insurers of insolvent defendants.The Key Provisions
This will be of particular use to businesses that frequently find themselves in litigation with financially weak defendants. However, insolvency practitioners should also take note of the Act as it places new obligations on them.