We have previously reported on the developing area of adjudication by insolvent companies, now the subject of another key judgment. In Balfour Beatty Civil Engineering Limited and Astec Projects Limited (in liquidation) [2020] the Technology and Construction Court (TCC) has provided a further clear example of the type of strict conditions that will need to be satisfied to enable such adjudications to proceed.

Creditor not obliged to take steps in foreign proceedings to preserve security

The Court of Appeal has confirmed that a term could not be implied into a conditional fee agreement between a liquidator and solicitors, and that the solicitors would only be paid out of recoveries made. However, the liquidator was not liable for the fees because of a common understanding between the parties. We cover this, and other issues affecting the insolvency and fraud industry, in our regular update:

The Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment (the “Convention”) and theProtocol to the Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment on Matters specific to Aircraft Equipment (the “Protocol” collectively with the Convention, the “Cape Town Convention”) signed on November 16, 2001 establish a special regime for the protection of certain interests in aircraft objects (within the meaning given to such term in the Cape Town Convention, an “Aircraft Object”), and

 Valuation evidence

The court has reaffirmed that comparable sales evidence is the best evidence when determining the retrospective valuation of a property.

Why has the Financial Support Direction (FSD) been issued?

The courts have the power to and increasingly will make a civil restraint order where an individual persistently issues claims that are totally without merit.

The court will not assist a former bankrupt to enforce his interests under an unlawful trust where the purpose of the trust initially had been to deprive the trustee in bankruptcy of the bankrupt's interest.

Summary

The Pensions Regulator intends to issue its first financial support direction (FSD) against the Bermudan-based Sea Containers Limited (SCL), which is currently restructuring under the US Chapter 11 bankruptcy process.

COVID-19 has had an unimaginable impact on the corporate world. The assumptions on which parties approached corporate transactions like Joint Ventures (JV) have often been blown off course. Businesses that are party to JVs must monitor not just themselves but the condition of their JV partner and the impact that they may have on the JV. There is no 'off the shelf' Joint Venture Agreement (JVA). Analysing the legal and practical rights and constraints in each JV is therefore essential.