Nicola Sharp looks at the reasons why the court granted a £5m WFO against directors of a company in liquidation.

The High Court has granted a Worldwide Freezing Order to the value of over £5 million against directors of a company in liquidation, who are also husband and wife.

The couple, Sameer Rizvi and Iryna Dubylovska were the only acting directors and shareholders of the company.

Underlying claim for misfeasance

In Vesnin v Queeld Ventures Ltd & Ors [2025] EWCA Civ 951, the English Court of Appeal has ruled that in an application for recognition at common law of a foreign insolvency, a respondent to that application may have standing to oppose the recognition even if they are not a creditor. The fact that other relief is sought against them, which is contingent on recognition of the foreign insolvency, can and usually will suffice to give them standing to oppose the recognition.

Background

Building on the successes of the first three conferences, the Insolvency Service held its "Forward Thinking" conference in April 2025. The organisers invited academics and practitioners to submit papers in advance. From the shortlist, the organisers selected a handful of the authors to present their papers at the conference.

The content of the papers, and the debate generated at the conference, will hopefully help the Insolvency Service in terms of selecting and crafting new legislative initiatives, going forward.

Highlights included:

In a significant follow-on judgment the Court of Appeal has both clarified and moved beyond the High Court’s approach to the ‘no worse off’ test, but ultimately set aside the sanction of Petrofac’s proposed restructuring plans on fairness grounds.

On 1 July, the Court of Appeal overturned the High Court’s decision1 to sanction the restructuring plans proposed by two Petrofac group companies as they did not consider that the benefits of the restructuring had been fairly allocated. 

Overview

In the recent High Court decision of Ley and another v Suttle and another [2025] EWHC 796 (Ch), Joint Liquidators successfully obtained permission from the Court to amend pleadings in circumstances where the originating Insolvency Act application was issued on a protective basis to preserve limitation.

Overview

If you walk along the seafront in the Lancashire town of Morecambe, you will come across a statue of the late Eric Morecambe. Many of us will remember Eric as half of one of the most famous comic double acts in the United Kingdom. Morecambe and Wise made us laugh, not so much through innuendo but more through the perfect timing of their various on screen exchanges. So important was timing to Eric Morecambe that one of the quotes at the foot of his statue is the phrase "In life, everything is timing".

Investors or companies may, as part of their wider investment thesis or business plan, make distressed asset purchases to strategically acquire assets which they may otherwise not be able to conveniently or affordably obtain. While the face value of the asset purchased may be lower than that acquired in a “solvent” transaction, purchasers should be aware that such acquisitions carry a heavy tail liability risk, which may take the form of a potential clawback as a transaction at an undervalue.

Introduction