When does a company give a ‘preference’ in breach of insolvency legislation? The award-winning corporate attorneys at ParrisWhittaker are highly experienced in advising companies and creditors on corporate insolvency matters when they need timely advice.
An important appeal court ruling on the timing of a decision made to enter into a transaction provides clarity on what may amount to a preference in a creditor’s favour. The UK Court of Appeal has persuasive authority on the courts in The Bahamas and should be noted.
What is a ‘preference’?
The High Court has recently considered and allowed the application of an opposing creditor to extend the time allocated for the hearing to sanction a restructuring plan under Part 26A of the Companies Act 2006. David Garner reports on the sanction hearing below.
The October 2023 insolvency statistics show that company insolvencies have risen by 17.6% from October 2022 to October 2023 and by 56.7% since pre-pandemic levels in October 2019. Total insolvencies have reached the highest levels since 2009.
The English High Court has clarified the test it will apply on an application for a moratorium. A company can get the benefit of a moratorium without applying to court but a court application is necessary if a winding up petition has already been presented or the company is an overseas company.
Background
On 1 November, the Supreme Court issued its judgment in R (on the application of Palmer) v Northern Derbyshire Magistrates Court and Another.
Background
In its much-anticipated 2023 Autumn Statement, the UK Government has committed to extending the relief available to the hospitality, retail and leisure sector. It has also announced that a business rates support package worth £4.3 billion will be available to support small businesses and the high street. However, the hospitality sector remains one of the most vulnerable, and it remains to be seen whether this additional support will be enough.
Key developments of interest over the last month include: IOSCO publishing its final Policy Recommendations for Crypto and Digital Asset (CDA) Markets; the UK government publishing a response to its previous consultation and call for evidence on proposals for the future financial services regulatory regime for digital assets as well as the FCA and Bank of England publishing proposals on the UK stablecoins regulatory regime; the European Parliament's ECON Committee publishing draft reports on the proposed PSD3 and Payment Services Regulation; and the UK government publishing a Future of Paym
The Supreme Court recently considered whether administrators of a company can be prosecuted for a failure to provide notice to the Secretary of State, using form HR1, of proposed collective redundancies.
They found that for the purposes of interpreting the relevant section of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 ("TULRCA"), administrators were not an "officer" and so were not subject to the obligation to file an HR1. This decision, however, has the potential to impact much wider than the world of redundancies.
An analysis of recent statistics show what the Insolvency and Tax Disputes teams at Mishcon de Reya have long experienced – that HMRC is not in the habit of overlooking an outstanding debt.
According to the latest data produced by UHY Hacker Young, Pub Insolvencies have risen by 66% in the last year. The impact of such a staggering statistic is that these debts which are owed to our clients become even more unobtainable to collect.
The pot of available funds drops dramatically once the pub business is placed in the official insolvency process.
The case will be passed to an Official Receiver and on the most part an Insolvency Practitioner is then appointed.