Matthew Czyzyk, Natalie Blanc and Natalie Raine, Ropes & Gray
This is an extract from the 2022 edition of GRR's Europe, Middle East and Africa Restructuring Review. The whole publication is available here.
In summary
Hotel Portfolio II UK Limited (In Liquidation) & Anor v Andrew Ruhan & Anthony Stevens [2022] EWHC 383 (Comm).
R (on the application of Palmer) v Northern Derbyshire Magistrates’ Court [2021] EWHC 3013
The case of Palmer has confirmed that an insolvency practitioner in the role of an administrator can be prosecuted (and therefore personally liable) for a failure to follow correct redundancy procedures prescribed by s194 TULRCA.
Where an individual is found to have acted in breach of s194, they may be personally liable to an unlimited fine (or a fine of up to £5,000 if the offence is committed before 12 March 2015).
The facts
Chris Corbin and Jeremy King, part owners of the company that owns the famous Wolseley restaurant had their company pushed into administration by its co-owner and major lender, having been in default since 2020, and now owes £38m. Administration might not have come as a surprise to anyone in that case.
However, directors and shareholders will not usually get anything like as much notice of a lender’s intention to appoint administrators and will frequently get none at all, as Insolvency and Asset Recovery Partner Tim Symes explains here.
The pandemic has brought much uncertainty to the hotel sector — Intermittent national and regional lockdowns, work from home mandates and restrictions around domestic and international travel have left hoteliers in the unenviable position of keeping the lights on but without the occupancy or footfall of pre-2020. Government measures have no doubt helped, especially the ability to furlough large sections of the workforce, but as these measures are tapered down, some hotels – particularly city centre and airport hotels which rely on business travel — will struggle.
Introduction
Earlier this month, the English Insolvency and Companies Court (the “ICC”) made a limited civil restraint order against a shareholder who had repeatedly sought, unmeritoriously, to challenge the 2017 restructuring of Paragon Offshore plc (in liquidation) (“Paragon”) (Hammersley v Soden & Ors [2022] EWHC 223 (Ch)).
Court fees are rising again thanks to the Court Fees (Miscellaneous Amendment) Order 2021
CFO21 will mostly be amending and updating the fees listed in Schedule 1 of The Civil Proceedings Fees Order 2008. The justification for the increase is to account for historic inflation since the last significant round of fee increases in 2016.
Salem Mohammed Ballama Altamimi & ors v Emirates NBD Bank PJSC, HSBC Bank Middle East Limited, ICICI Bank UK Plc and others [2021] DIFC CFI 085 [1]
ANNUAL CASE REVIEW 2021 serlecourt RAISING THE BAR IN CHANCERY & COMMERCIAL “Stacked with highly experienced silks and juniors, Serle Court has long been one of the leading sets when it comes to civil fraud disputes” Legal 500 serlecourt 02 Welcome to Serle Court’s Annual Review of 2021. In the second year of the pandemic, barristers at Serle Court have continued to appear, often remotely, in courts at all levels around the world, in cases across our wide field of commercial chancery law.
It has taken over 20 months, but we now have a reported decision from the High Court in England on the operation of the new moratorium provisions introduced by the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020. Sir Alastair Norris, sitting as a High Court judge, has rejected a creditor's attempt to bring a moratorium to an end following a monitors' decision not to terminate the moratorium.