Pensions in Restructuring Survey Report
January 2021
2020 might provide answers to many political and economic issues, but it is not possible to see with perfect vision what the future holds for pensions in restructuring matters.
That was part of the conclusion to the
report on Taylor Wessing's previous
Pensions in Restructuring Survey; with
hindsight, 2020 brought few answers
and posed many questions.
Pensions In Restructuring Survey Report
Welcome to the results of Taylor Wessing's fifth annual Pensions in Restructuring Survey
At 11pm on 31 December 2020, the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) came into effect implementing the UK’s exit from the single market. The TCA covers some important things in great detail and some things more scantly. Unfortunately for insolvency practitioners, it is largely silent on almost all issues relating to insolvency, meaning that, despite not technically having a ‘no-deal’ Brexit, for insolvency practitioners it may certainly feel that way.
Recognition of insolvency proceedings
In this chapter of our Annual Insurance Review 2021, we look at the main developments in 2020 and expected issues in 2021 for restructuring and insolvency.
Key developments in 2020
The Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 came into force on 26 June 2020. The changes introduced by that Act were some of the most significant made to English insolvency law for decades.
In light of a number of recent High Court decisions, Andy Creer considers the approach of the Court when considering an application for a speedy trial.
On December 24, 2020, the European Union (EU) and the United Kingdom (UK) unveiled a Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) establishing the broad relationship between them after the end of the Brexit transition period on December 31, 2020, with a particular focus on international trade, investment, public policy, and economic partnership between EU Member States and the UK.
In Cage Consultants Limited v Iqbal & Iqbal [2020] EWHC 2917 (Ch), the liquidators of Totalbrand Limited (the company) assigned certain claims – including for transactions at an undervalue and preferences – to litigation funders Cage Consultants Limited (CCL) under s.246ZD Insolvency Act 1986. The company was subsequently dissolved.
A former director of the company and another individual alleged to have benefitted from the transactions tried to strike out the claims. They did this on the basis that:
RE IMAGINED
An analysis of the Restructuring Plan January 2021
Illustration: A world of complexity by Sam Hadley
RE IMAGINED: AN ANALYSIS OF THE RESTRUCTURING PLAN:
We all know 2020 made an impact – and as we look at the year ahead, there are a few repercussions of the incredible strain placed on businesses that are likely to come into the limelight as a result. While there are some global trends in litigation – like litigation funding and class actions - some Scotland specific trends are also worth highlighting. With that in mind, here are the five key things for litigators to watch in the year ahead:
1) Frustration and leases in Scots law
The Corporate Insolvency and Governance Bill was published on 20 May 2020. Our understanding is that this will go through all stages of Parliament on Wednesday 3 June and will become law on or very soon after that date.