In this English case, a secured lender (Nationwide) appointed administrators to three companies. However, before appointing, Nationwide had:
The applicants in Closegate Hotel Development (Durham) Limited & Anor v McLean & Ors [2013] EWHC 3237 (Ch) were companies that had borrowed money off Barclays Bank to finance a hotel venture. That funding was secured by floating charges granted by the companies.
In Ebbvale Ltd v Andrew Lawrence Hosking (Trustee in Bankruptcy of Andreas Sofroniou Michaelides) [2013] UKPC 1, the Privy Council upheld a winding-up order against a Bahamian company, even though the principal purpose of the petitioning creditor may have been related to obtaining an advantage in separate proceedings in the United Kingdom.
In our December 2010 insolvency update, we reported on the UK High Court's decision in BNY Corporate Trustee Services Limited v Eurosail.
Since our last newsletter, Russia's war in Ukraine rumbles on, domestic inflation hits new highs and there are signs of an increase in activity in the insolvency market. Russians unlawful assault on Ukraine continues unabated, as we enter the European summer months, and the fourth month of the invasion. Besides the utter devastation inflicted on the people and infrastructure of Ukraine, the war is having a significant impact on both global food and oil prices.
High Court orders the liquidation of CBL Insurance
In the UK case of CFL Finance Limited v Rubin and Ors, a creditor had sought to make an individual bankrupt. A creditors' meeting was held. At the meeting, a proposal for an Individual Voluntary Arrangement was approved by the creditor that held the largest portion of debt (and therefore 90.43% of the vote). The other two creditors voted against the proposal.
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) v Saad Investments Company Limited (SICL) and Singularis Holdings Ltd (SHL)involved an application by PwC for the setting aside of orders made by the Supreme Court of Bermuda in favour of the liquidators that required the production of documents relating to SICL and SHL. Included among the grounds on which PwC relied to set aside the order were that:
In Cukurova Finance International Ltd v Alfa Telecom Turkey Ltd [2013] UKPC 2, the Privy Council held that a borrower may claim relief from forfeiture notwithstanding that the forfeited security has been appropriated by the lender in satisfaction of a debt.
The administrators of St George’s Property Services (London) Ltd appealed from a decision granting the application of the 2 shareholders and directors of the company to remove the administrators and to appoint replacement insolvency practitioners who were willing to make an application under s 244 of the Insolvency Act 1986 (UK) in respect of an exorbitant credit transaction to which the company was a party.