The Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 is far-reaching with its implications extending to pension schemes. Pension scheme employers and trustees should ensure that they are familiar with the provisions of the Act, and the potential impact that they could have on schemes, employers and savers.
Introduction
The Act received royal assent on Thursday 25 June. The Act passed through Parliament very quickly, so that its provisions can be used by companies experiencing financial difficulty as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Act contains:
On May 20, 2020, the UK Government published its much anticipated draft legislation (the Corporate Governance and Insolvency Bill) which aims to provide greater opportunities for company survival and better returns for creditors during and after the COVID-19 emergency. The Government intends to ask Parliament to expedite progress of the Bill.
Last October we highlighted an important ruling issued in September 2019 by the Seventh Circuit in the bankruptcy proceeding of In re I80 Equipment, LLC.
Taggart v. Lorenzen, No. 18-489
Today, the Supreme Court held 9-0 that a creditor cannot be held in contempt of court for violating a bankruptcy discharge order if there is a “fair ground of doubt” as to whether the order barred the creditor’s conduct.
The government has published its response to the consultation on insolvency and corporate governance. The document sets out its proposed next steps; in some areas the government will legislate but in other areas further consultation will be needed.
The proposed insolvency reforms include
• the introduction of a new moratorium to give ultimately viable financially distressed companies a period of time when creditors (including secured creditors) cannot take action against the company, allowing it to make preparations to restructure or seek new investment;
English courts recognise that shareholders hold a separate legal personality from the body corporate they own a stake in and will only go behind the corporate veil in limited circumstances. In the recent case of Onur Air Taşimacilik AŞ v Goldtrail Travel Ltd (In Liquidation) 1 , the Court of Appeal considered whether the financial means of the appellant’s wealthy controlling shareholder could be taken into account when making an order that the appellant had to make a substantial payment into court as a condition of being able to pursue its appeal.
Mit seinem Beschluss vom 28. November 2016 (veröffentlicht am 8. Februar 2017) hat der Große Senat des Bundesfinanzhofs („BFH“) den sogenannten „Sanierungserlass“ (BStBl. I 2003, 240; ergänzt durch BStBl. I 2010, 18) des Bundesfinanzministeriums („BMF“) verworfen. Dieser hatte bislang eine Steuerbefreiung von Sanierungsgewinnen über den Weg eines Billigkeitserlasses der Steuerzahlung nach §§ 163, 227 Abgabenordnung („AO“) ermöglicht.
Did you know that when a liquidator makes a court application, it is important to identify the appropriate applicant, not only as a procedural matter, but also from a costs perspective?
All good where the liquidator succeeds in the court application
We have previously reported that the Official Receiver retains its entitlement to ad valorem fees on the conversion of a compulsory liquidation to a creditors’ voluntary winding-up (CVL).
Introduction Hong Kong At a Glance Population: 7 million Languages: English, Cantonese and Mandarin Time zones: 8 hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time Climate: Subtropical with long, hot summers and pleasant temperate winters Political System