In Endersby and Coote v Astrosoccer 4 U Ltd the High Court made a retrospective Administration order over a company that was subject to a winding-up petition to "cure" an invalid directors' out-of-court appointment of Administrators.

The Insolvency Service has announced that the UK government is planning to conduct an assessment of the impact of the voluntary industry measures introduced in November 2015 to improve the transparency of connected party pre-pack sales in Administration.

The 2014 Graham Review found that pre-pack sales were a useful business rescue tool but noted that there was evidence of less successful outcomes where the pre-pack sale was to a connected party.

The collapse of Carillion has raised many issues relating to public procurement, the actions of the board and the role of the auditors. But a press release by the Institute of Directors suggesting that in 2016 Carillion relaxed the clawback conditions that applied to bonuses has raised questions over remuneration governance.

Key Points

• Insurers had no priority rights to collect premiums over the proceeds of a successful action they had insured, as a result of a drafting error.

• The High Court affirmed the general rule that, where a party has contracted for an unsecured right only, the court will not elevate it to a secured status.

The Facts 

Key Points

• A binding contract by exchange of email did not arise where parties were simply exploring a potential deal.

• Sale by auction is often appropriate where an asset is difficult to value.

• Where no differential treatment of creditors, unfair harm requires that a decision does not withstand logical analysis.

The Facts

Introduction

The recent case ofPlant & Plant (administrators of Relentless Software Ltd) v Vision Games 1 Ltd & Ors1 concerns the attempt of a funder of a video games developer to recover the proceeds of a tax credit payment made by HMRC to the developer, pursuant to the security that had been granted by the developer to the funder.

In assessing whether the funder could recover such sums, the High Court was asked to consider various issues, including:

Key Points

• There is a low threshold for the granting of an injunction to prevent the presentation of a winding up petition.

• The challenge against the debt in the statutory demand must be in good faith and have sufficient substance.

The Facts

The Facts

A liquidator applied for permission to amend his claim for fraudulent trading. The claim against the respondents related to purported defrauding of HMRC for non-payment of VAT.

Associate Martin Cox considers the recent High Court decision of Peel Port Shareholder Finance Company Ltd v Dornoch Ltd, in which the court declined to exercise its discretion under the Civil Procedure Rules (“CPRs”) to order the pre-action disclosure of an insurance policy held by a solvent insured. The article considers the extent to which the outcome in this case is consistent with the overriding objective that courts dispose of cases justly and at proportionate cost.

5 What will happen if a Type A event occurs? If a Type A event occurs without appropriate steps being taken there can be a number of consequences. (i) Impact on relationship with pension scheme trustees Pension schemes have long term liabilities. Sponsoring employers therefore generally expect to have a long term relationship with the trustees of their scheme. That relationship could be damaged if a Type A event occurs and the trustees are not kept informed or if they consider that their concerns about such events have not been addressed.