The Court of Appeal has ruled that the trustees of two occupational defined benefit (DB) schemes can use a particular mechanism, known as a Headway agreement, to maximise the amount of s.75 debt payable by the employers.
In the case of Sarjeant and others v Rigid Group Ltd, both schemes commenced winding up in 2000. No insolvency event had occurred before the winding up in either case. The applicable legislation at the relevant time required the s.75 debt to be calculated on the MFR basis.
In September 2010, the Determinations Panel of the Regulator (the "DP") issued financial support directions ("FSDs") against six companies in the Lehman Brothers Group, but determined that no FSDs would be issued against 38 other companies in the group. The trustees of the Lehman Brothers Pension Scheme appealed the decision not to issue FSDs against these 38 companies to the Upper Tribunal. However, the companies applied for the trustees' appeal to be struck out.
In the recent Victorian Supreme Court decision of Central Cleaning Supplies (Aust) Pty Ltd v Elkerton and Young (in their capacity as joint and several liquidators of Swan Services Pty Ltd (in liquidation))[1], the Supreme Court considered the issue of whether the Plaintiff's credit application signed by Swan Services Pty Ltd (Swan Services) before 30 January 2012 was a 'transitional security agreement' within the meaning of that term in the Personal Property Securities Act 2009 
Yesterday, the United States Supreme Court held that sales of assets pursuant to chapter 11 plans must permit credit bidding by their secured lenders in order to satisfy the requirements for confirmation of a chapter 11 “cramdown” plan.1
The Victorian Court of Appeal recently held that a payment, disposition or grant of security by a company to a person on behalf of, or for the benefit of a director of the company, extends to a mortgage of land given by the company to a creditor of the director in consideration of a covenant by the creditor not to sue the director.
As a result, insolvency practitioners now have stronger judicial guidance as to what constitutes a 'benefit' for the purposes of setting aside or varying voidable transactions, which should assist in recovering proceeds for unsecured creditors.
Secured lenders have had long-held expectations of certain protections in the event the borrower files for bankruptcy.
When a Ponzi scheme collapses, as with musical chairs, there will be some investors with a place to sit, while others are bereft of such comfort.
In re: Qimonda AG, No. 09-14766-SM, Bankr. E.D. Va. (Oct. 28, 2011) [click for opinion]
Insolvency - 2013/14 Annual Case Update February 7, 2014 By Frank Spizzirri, Shaheen Karolia and Jonathan Tam (Student at Law) Baker & McKenzie LLP (Toronto) 2 Case Index Case Name Page # 1. The Indalex Update (Aveos/Grant Forest/Timminco) a) Aveos Fleet Performance Inc., 2013 QCCS 5762 b) Grant Forest Products Inc. v. GE Canada Leasing Services Co., 2013 ONSC 5933 c) Timminco ltée (Arrangement relatif à), 2014 QCCS 174 4 2. Re Northstar Inc. (Director Liabilities in connection with Environmental Costs) 9 3. Re Moore, 2013 ONCA 769 11 4. Re Dilollo, 2013 ONCA 550 13 5. Re Schreyer.
On 29 February 2012, the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom handed down its long-awaited judgment on client money issues in the context of the Lehman's Administration. The judgment has an important bearing on likely recoveries for both segregated and non-segregated clients, the further work to be conducted by the Administrators and timing of distributions.
Summary
The Supreme Court has found that: