The Determinations Panel gave its reasons for imposing financial support directions (FSDs) on six Lehman Brothers companies on 29 September 2009. SNR Denton represented 22 of the 44 companies targeted for FSDs. The Determinations Panel accepted our submission that it would not be reasonable to impose an FSD on any of the companies we represented because of the Pensions Regulator's failure to particularise its case against them.

Background

Commercial sellers need to be particularly careful when purporting to sell property with vacant possession. In a recent case, Area Estates Limited v Weir (2010), Area Estates tried to sell a site to Weir, telling Weir that Area’s former tenant had surrendered its lease, so that Area could sell with vacant possession.

Summary. The Pensions Regulator (the Regulator) has issued a statement on regulated apportionment arrangements (RAA) and employer insolvency (the statement).

The Limitation Act 1980 prescribes various periods of time in which a claim must be brought. In the event that this is not undertaken within the specified period, the cause of action will be statute barred and as such unenforceable.

In the case of a simple contract, the period is six years and in general begins to run from the date on which the cause of action accrued. In order to 'stop the clock', proceedings (a claim) will have to be brought.

Knowing how much money you owe and are owed is critical when considering disputes with other parties. You need to consider whether a right of set-off exists between you and the other party.

When a company goes into administration, time does not stop running against its creditors' claims for the purposes of the Limitation Act 1980. This is different to where a company goes into liquidation as time does then stop running. The effect there is that the claim stays live whereas in an administration, once the limitation period has expired, the claim is time-barred.

Release provisions

The scope of the powers afforded to the security agent by the so called “release provisions” found in many intercreditor agreements employed in LBO deals has come under scrutiny recently. A number of restructurings have relied upon using the security agent’s powers to implement a restructuring and many others will have at least considered using them.

A group of senior lenders to European Directories SA, a Macquarie Group Ltd affiliate, have succeeded on their appeal to the English Court of Appeal in litigation with European Directories' mezzanine lenders over a €2billion loan restructuring plan for the company.

In January we posted on the impact of a case that ruled that landlords are able to claim rent as an expense of the administration when a tenant’s administrators are in occupation of all or part of a leasehold property.

Treasury makes banking insolvency rules: Treasury has made insolvency and administration rules covering building societies in England and Scotland and amended the English rules on banks in insolvency and administration and the Scottish rules on banking insolvencies. The English rules, among other changes, provide for the statement of proposals to be sent to FSA and FSCS and for the disapplication of set-off for protected deposits up to FSCS's statutory limit. The Scottish instruments apply to insolvencies of banks and building societies under the Banking Act 2009.