In our December 2010 insolvency update, we reported on the UK High Court's decision in BNY Corporate Trustee Services Limited v Eurosail.

The Court of Appeal has confirmed the High Court's decision that the "Balance Sheet Test" (for whether a company is unable to pay its debts under Section 123(2) of the Insolvency Act 1986) cannot be reduced to a single formula or set of principles that apply to all companies.

The Balance Sheet Test forms part of the provisions that regulate when a company may be compulsorily wound up by the Court.

In BNY Corporate Trustee Service v Eurosail UK1, the Court of Appeal rejected a “mechanical” definition of balance sheet insolvency.

Ever since the establishment of the U.K. Pensions Regulator (the "Regulator") by the U.K. Pensions Act 2004 (the "Act"), the Regulator's exercise of its authority has been of major importance to the U.K.'s restructuring and rescue business. The first judicial review of the Regulator's powers, however, hints that some of the procedures it has adopted may be curbed in the future.

The Pensions Regulator and the Restructuring Environment

The judgment of the Court of Appeal (the “CA”) in BNY Corporate Trustee Services Limited v Eurosail-UK 2007-3BL PLC & Ors [2011] EWCA Civ 227 was handed down on 7 March 2011.

We reported on the High Court case of BNY Corporate Trustee Services Limited v Eurosail in August 2010 and last week's Court of Appeal decision provides further important guidance on the interpretation of the balance sheet insolvency.

Lehman Brothers Special Financing Inc.’s pending appeal against the judgments of the UK High Court and the Court of Appeal in the so called “flip clause cases”, concerning the enforceability of flip clauses, is scheduled to be begin with Belmont Park Investments Pty Limited (Belmont Park Investments Pty Limited v BNY Corporate Trustee Services Limited and Lehman Brothers Special Financing Inc (UKSC 2009/0222)) on March 1, 2011.

The Insolvency Service has published its policy, which came into effect on 1 December 2010, on realising a bankrupt's principal residence where the Official Receiver (OR) is appointed as the trustee in bankruptcy.

The policy provides that the OR will not take any steps to market the bankrupt's interest in the property for a period of two years and three months from the date of the bankruptcy order. However, the OR can accept any unsolicited offer in relation to the property if it is in the best interest of creditors. After the expiry of the two years and three months:

A claim by trustees against an insolvent participating employer (who has ceased to participate in the pension scheme) for its share of the scheme deficit is a contingent obligation at the date of winding up and is admissible in the winding-up. This follows the decision by the Outer House of the Court of Session in Scotland in Burton, Re Direction of Assets [2010] CSOH 174.

From 1 January 2011 the Insolvency Service has put the following changes into effect:

The Official Receiver (OR), as trustee of the bankruptcy estate, will no longer dispose of a bankrupt’s interest in a family home until two years and three months after the bankruptcy order is made, except if an offer is received which is in the creditors’ interests to accept.

At two years and three months a review will begin. In cases where the bankrupt’s interest in the property is valued at less than £1,000, steps will be taken to revest the property interest in the bankrupt.