Global Perspectives on Insolvency, Restructuring & Dispute Resolution
As primarily offshore lawyers, we speak on a daily basis with onshore counsel, banks, asset managers, trustees, corporates, insolvency practitioners and individuals around the world. Those conversations give our Global Insolvency & Dispute Resolution Practice Group a unique perspective on the different market trends and their regional impact in 2022.
The Insolvency Service is satisfied that the restructuring plan and moratorium processes are broadly meeting their policy objectives – and that ipso facto clauses are likely to be used more in future
Corporate Update is our fortnightly bulletin highlighting the latest legal and regulatory developments which we consider to be of relevance to in-house corporate counsel.
It may be necessary to notify the Government and obtain clearance before appointing liquidators, administrative receivers, fixed charge receivers or trustees in bankruptcy where the insolvent entity or individual owns (or the receiver is appointed over) assets that fall within a sensitive area of the economy, under recent national security legislation.
Insolvency figures for May 2022 were published by the Insolvency Service on 17 June, and reveal an increase in corporate insolvencies both compared to pandemic and pre-pandemic levels.
The uncertainty that has descended on global economic markets brought about by the global covid-19 pandemic has been widespread and unprecedented. Anyone looking for clear wisdom on the likely trends in restructuring as we look now to the second half of 2022 and beyond may find the milky darkness of a Magic 8-ball a better barometer of future forecasting.
Here, we provide an overview of the offshore restructuring landscape in light of governmental fiscal stimulus measures introduced due to coronavirus either being reduced, withdrawn or, in some cases, never being put in place.
In Shop Direct Finance Company Limited v The Official Receiver, the Commercial Court confirmed that it's the customer’s trustee in bankruptcy - in this case the Official Receiver (OR) - whose knowledge is relevant for the purpose of the time limit rule in DISP 2.8.2R(2). This is likely to be good news for firms facing complaints brought by the OR around historical mis-selling allegations (including PPI).
On 18 March 2021, the UK Government published its white paper on restoring trust in audit and corporate governance. On 31 May 2022, the Government published its response to the consultation.
The collapse of fashion retailer Missguided has prompted official complaints to the Insolvency Service from suppliers who have alleged that the online brand continued trading and ordering new supply despite the prospect of insolvency. Alex Jay spoke to the Guardian and Yahoo! Finance about what the retailer going into administration could mean for suppliers, and the potential for legal action.
In 1907, Robert Baden-Powell, an English soldier, devised the Scout motto: Be Prepared. Upon hearing the Scout motto, someone asked Baden-Powell the inevitable follow-up question.
“Prepared for what?”
“Why, for any old thing,” he replied.
In Scouting for Boys (published in 1908), Baden-Powell wrote that to ‘Be Prepared’ means “you are always in a state of readiness in mind and body to do your duty.” More than a century later, preparedness is still a cornerstone of Scouting.