Privy Council considers entitlement to costs of preparing to comply with a third party disclosure order
The Housing and Planning Act 2016 (the “Act”) introduces special administration procedures for social housing associations which aim to protect the level of social housing in the UK. The new housing administration orders (“HAOs”) create an additional objective for insolvency practitioners to try to keep social housing in the regulated housing sector to maintain levels of social housing.
In May 2015, I wrote an article about the conflicting lower court decisions in Raithatha –v- Williamson and Horton –v- Henry, concerning undrawn pension entitlements and income payment orders. The Court of Appeal has now finally handed down its long expected Judgment.
The BVI High Court granted Norwich Pharmacal relief against a registered agent for a judgment debtor who was subject to an interim freezing order.
The judgment creditor had obtained an interim freezing order against the judgment debtor, and was seeking general information as to the assets of the judgment debtor, following a pattern of concealment of assets to frustrate enforcement of a foreign judgment. The judgment debtor had failed to comply with an overseas freezing order and had been held in contempt of court for failing to disclose assets.
Welcome to the latest edition of DLA Piper’s monthly newsletter – Pensions Round-Up – in which we provide an overview of developments in pension legislation, case law and regulatory guidance. In this edition we look at key developments from October 2016 including the following. ■ The Pensions Regulator: the publication of reports which look at cases concerning the power to declare scheme amendments void, failures to complete the scheme return, and the potential use of the Regulator’s anti-avoidance powers.
The Claim
Arjo Wiggins Appleton Limited (“AWA Limited”) was a wholly owned subsidiary of Sequana SA (the “Defendant”). BAT Industries Plc (“BAT Plc”), through a series of corporate acquisitions, became liable to pay for part of an environmental clean-up operation in the USA. AWA Limited was also liable to indemnify BAT Plc for part of that liability.
In December 2008, AWA Limited’s directors signed a solvency statement confirming that, in the opinion of the directors;
In Lehman Brothers International (Europe) (in Administration) v Exxonmobil Financial Services BV(1) the High Court considered a range of issues arising from the application of the close-out provisions of the standard-form Global Master Repurchase Agreement (GMRA) 2000.
In Lomas and others v HMRC [2016] EWHC 2492 (Ch), the High Court has confirmed that statutory interest payable on insolvency is not 'yearly interest' for UK tax purposes. The administrators therefore had no obligation to account for income tax on the interest payments made. The Court was also critical of HMRC's contradictory guidance on this issue.
Background
High Court considers “test case” of Wall v Royal Bank of Scotland [2016] EWHC 2460 (Comm)
The claims
The Claimant, Mr Wall (W), brought claims against the Defendant, Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS), in relation to RBS’s dealings with a now insolvent group of companies owned and controlled by W. W brought the claims in his capacity as assignee of the group’s rights and/or as beneficiary of a trust as declared by the group’s liquidators.
The Fatcs
A gift card retailer entered creditors’ voluntary liquidation with an estimated deficiency of £2.8 million. The liquidators subsequently sought declarations that various categories of payments made to the wife of the sole director and shareholder of the company, who was employed as its book keeper, constituted transactions at an undervalue. Mrs Lawson claimed that the payments, which were made to a joint bank account in her and Mr Lawson’s name, were made to discharge expense claims.
The Decision