Independent Insurance Co Limited (In Provisional Liquidation) v Aspinall and another UKEAT/0051/11
Independent Insurance Company - IIC- went into provisional liquidation in June 2001. Half of its employees were made redundant including Mr Aspinall and Mrs O’Callaghan. They issued proceedings claiming a protective award when IIC failed to comply with its collective consultation obligations, consult with employee representatives or arrange for necessary elections.
Proposals issued October 2010
Confirmation given 31 January 2011
Policy statement issued May 2011
Draft guidance on the bespoke measurement of investment risk issued May 2011. Consultation ends on 24 June 2011
Consultation on the 2012/13 levy determination expected in autumn 2011
The PPF has confirmed its intention to implement a new levy framework from 2012/13. Key features of the framework confirmed in the policy statement include:
The Government is proposing to amend (for a twelfth time!) the Regulations under s75 Pensions Act 1995. The amendments would make it easier to vary the basis on which liability is shared between employers.
Background – the Regulations as they stand
In its ministerial statement this week in relation to its consultation on the proposals for a restructuring moratorium, the Government has indicated that it now proposes to consider implementing measures to tackle the unreasonable use of termination clauses in insolvencies.
What Are Termination Clauses?
Termination clauses are, of course, found in most commercial agreements and are a means by which a party may terminate an agreement on the occurrence of certain events (invariably including insolvency of the other party).
The Insolvency Service ("IS") has published a consultation on proposed reform to the regulation of insolvency practitioners. The consultation responds to various recommendations made last year by the Office of Fair Trading ("OFT") in their study entitled, "The Market for Corporate Insolvency Practitioners".
On 16 December 2010, HM Treasury published a revised draft of the Financial Markets and Insolvency (Settlement Finality and Financial Collateral Arrangements) (Amendment) Regulations 2010 (SI 2010/2993) (the “Amending Regulations”).
On 16 September 2010 the UK Treasury published a consultation paper seeking views on its proposals for a new Special Administration Regime (SAR) for investment firms. The Consultation included draft regulations that will implement the SAR (the Draft Regulations).
The Consultation was prompted by the failure of Lehman Brothers in 2008 which posed (and continues to pose) serious challenges for insolvency regimes around the world.
The Insolvency Service issued a consultation paper in July 2010 on proposals for a restructuring moratorium.
This follows a previous consultation paper titled Encouraging Company Rescue, issued in June 2009, which outlined three proposals:
Yesterday, the United Kingdom’s Commercial Secretary to the Treasury launched a consultation on a new special-resolution regime, Special administration regime for investment firms, to strengthen the government’s ability to handle future insolvencies of failing investment banks to minimize cost and disruption of the overall national financial system.
On 31 March 2010, the UK Insolvency Service released a new consultation paper entitled "improving the transparency of, and confidence in, pre-packaged sales in administrations.