Key point

Where in a UK administration an action would give some benefit to creditors, and risk neither detriment to them nor impede the administration's progress, the court may be willing to intervene and support a challenge to the administrator's actions.

The facts

In the past, HMRC has allowed insolvency practitioners to cancel the VAT registration of businesses at an early stage and account for VAT on any subsequent supplies using form VAT 833. HMRC has received legal confirmation that a deregistered business cannot issue a valid VAT invoice, which could result in VAT registered buyers of assets from insolvent businesses being denied claims for input tax. As a result, HMRC will no longer allow the early deregistration of insolvent businesses.

The Privy Council has handed down judgment in the claim brought by the liquidators of Fairfield Sentry Limited ("Fairfield") against a number of redeemed investors, seeking to recover the amounts paid out to them on redemption.

Introduction

The Chancellor’s 2014 Budget speech revealed significant  changes to the way in which pension scheme members will be  able to access their savings. This move falls as just one of a raft  of changes to workplace pensions which Steve Webb MP has  described as a “pensions revolution”.

Insolvent Defendants

Corporate Insolvency

Dissolution

1. Corporate bodies (limited companies or LLPs) have a separate legal identity that ceases to exist upon dissolution. Dissolution can occur, broadly speaking, in two ways, one is at the end of the process of winding up (whether voluntary or compulsory) and the other is by the process of striking off the Register of Companies 

or limited liability partnerships. The latter occurs either as a result of the company’s

On 8 May 2014, the Supreme Court ordered the CPS to pay the costs and expenses of a receiver appointed over assets, which were not recoverable from a defendant under investigation (Barnes (the former Court Appointed Receiver) v The Eastenders Group and another [2014] UKSC 26).

10 April 2014
[2014] EWHC 1132 (Ch)
Chancery Division (HHJ Simon Barker QC)

Instead of making an administration order as sought and which was unopposed, the Court brought on an extant winding up petition for hearing and appointed a provisional liquidator.

24 February 2014
[2014] EWCA Civ 180
Court of Appeal (Patten, Lewison and Sharp LJJ)

The fact that rent payable in advance had fallen due prior to the tenant company entering administration did not prevent that that rent being payable an expense of the liquidation of the tenant company under the salvage/Lundy Granite principle.  The amount of rent so payable was a question of fact.

28 February 2014
[2014] EWHC 540 (Ch)
Companies Court (Etherton C)

When is a company’s property not its property?

Introduction