This article discusses the defining features of Bermuda’s insolvency landscape and the primary insolvency and rescue procedures available under Bermuda law, including compulsory liquidations, provisional liquidations and schemes of arrangements. The case of Chishti v Afiniti Ltd is presented as a recent example of a company successfully availing itself of a restructuring plan through the use of ‘light touch’ provisional liquidation.
The Property (Digital Assets etc) Act 2025 (the “Act”) came into force on 2 December 2025, providing helpful statutory confirmation that digital assets may be considered “property” as a matter of law in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The Act, working together with current insolvency law, is a significant step in providing further certainty to investors, lenders, and custodians in the digital asset market.
For reasons explained in this blog, they did not in the case of Conway and others v Plass and others [2025] EWHC 2625 (Ch) but there could be situations where it might.
In Conway and others v Plass and others, the High Court has provided guidance on when contract liabilities incurred by administrators will be treated as administration expenses under the Lundy Granite principle.
Factual Background
Despite meeting statutory jurisdictional requirements under Part 26A of the Companies Act 2006, the High Court declined to exercise its discretion in favour of sanctioning Waldorf Production UK Plc’s restructuring plan in August 2025due to concerns about fair allocation of value and lack of meaningful engagement with unsecured creditors.
In early November 2025 one of the biggest UK’s largest private building control firms Assent Building Control Compliance Limited, along with its subsidiaries Oculus Building Consultancy Limited and LB Building Control Limited, (together “Assent”) ceased trading and subsequently entered liquidation. The collapse of such a major player in the building control sector will likely have wide ramifications throughout the whole construction industry, and particularly for HRB developments and the BSR’s Gateway 2 Application process.
The UK retail and hospitality sectors are entering the crucial winter trading period under renewed pressure following the Chancellor’s November Budget. Economic growth remains weak, and the Office for Budget Responsibility has downgraded its annual economic forecasts through to 2030, signalling that the operating environment for consumer-facing businesses is likely to remain difficult for some time. Meanwhile, insolvency levels continue their upward trajectory: 2,029 company insolvencies were recorded in October 2025, a 17% increase compared with the same month last year.