What Happened

As the economy continues to face challenges and the threat of bankruptcy becomes more prevalent among businesses, landlords must be more vigilant in protecting their interests in commercial leases. One area of particular concern is leases that fall under Section 467 of the Internal Revenue Code (“Section 467 Leases”).

‘If, at first, you don’t succeed, then try and try again’ is a fitting description for HMRC’s recent approach to restructuring plans, with its opposition of plans proposed by The Great Annual Savings Company (GAS) and Nasmyth Group Limited (Naysmyth).

The GAS sanction hearing (which is due to take place this week) will be the first time that HMRC has taken an active role contesting a restructuring plan at sanction following the case of Houst where the Court exercised its discretionary power to “cram down” HMRC.

Although it’s inaccurate to say that the Chinese character for “crisis” combines the characters for danger and opportunity, the thought has resonated since President Kennedy repeatedly used this trope in his presidential campaign speeches.

It is widely anticipated that the next twelve months could be a challenging period for many businesses in the UK and that there could be a significant rise in the number of companies in financial distress.

Where this is the case, the directors of those companies will need to be increasingly mindful of the duties they have to the company's creditors, as well as to its shareholders.

The Court of King's Bench for Saskatchewan has rejected another attempt by a rural municipality to gain priority in an oil and gas receivership. This follows the recent Alberta Decision in Orphan Well Association v Trident Exploration Corp, 2022 ABKB 839, where the Alberta Court of King's Bench confirmed that the abandonment and reclamation obligations owed to the Orphan Well Association and the Alberta Energy Regulator rank in priority to claims of municipalities for unpaid property taxes in insolvency proceedings.

Matthew Czyzyk, Natalie Blanc, Natalie Raine and Emily Ma, Ropes & Gray

This is an extract from the 2023 edition of GRR's Europe, Middle East and Africa Restructuring Review. The whole publication is available here.

A GLOBAL LEGAL MEDIA & NISHLIS LEGAL MARKETING PUBLICATION THE US-ISRAEL LEGAL REVIEW 2022 IN ASSOCIATION WITH: Israel’s Unicorn Success Story SNNOVATION The US-Israel Legal Review 2022 1 Contents THE US-ISRAEL LEGAL REVIEW 2022 2 WELCOME FROM THE PUBLISHERS Global Legal Media and Nishlis Legal Marketing 4 ECONOMIC HEADWINDS, A HOT WAR AND A TRADE WAR: THE IMPACT ON ISRAEL’S COMPANIES With rising interest rates, rising inflation and reduced growth forecasts, how has that reality been faced by corporate clients and start-ups? Arnon, Tadmor-Levy provide some answers.

Tradition Financial Services Ltd v Bilta (UK) Ltd and others [2023] EWCA Civ 112

Key Takeaways:

There has always been a matter of contention for a Committee of Creditors, Resolution Professionals, legal fraternity during Corporate Resolution Insolvency Process (CIRP), whether the dues of the Government like Income-Tax, Sales Tax, Value Added Tax etc. are secured debt and whether the Government is a secured creditor.

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal has answered this question in affirmative in its recent𝗷𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝟳𝘁𝗵 𝗙𝗲𝗯., 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯 𝗶𝗻 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗹 (𝗔𝗧) (𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆) 𝗡𝗼. 𝟮𝟰𝟮 𝗼𝗳 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟮 (𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗜𝗻𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗧𝗮𝘅 & 𝗔𝗻𝗿. 𝘃𝘀. 𝗔𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗺 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗮 𝗟𝘁𝗱).