July Bankruptcy and Restructuring Developments

What does the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 (CIGA) do?

CIGA introduces various changes to various provisions of the Insolvency Act 1986 and the Companies Act 2006.

Some of these changes are designed to be permanent changes to the insolvency landscape (largely implementing proposals for insolvency law reform introduced in 2018) – for example, the introduction of a moratorium, a ban on termination provisions (also known as ipso facto clauses) and a new pre-insolvency rescue and restructuring regime.

We live in uncertain and financially very troubling times. The coronavirus pandemic and the unprecedented measures put in place to tackle it have caused severe disruption to businesses. Big names such as Harveys, TM Lewin, Intu and the owners of Café Rouge and Bella Italia all went into administration at the beginning of the month. They will not be the last.

Background

On 26 June 2020, the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act (CIG Act) came into force which introduced fundamental changes to the UK’s company and insolvency laws which not only provide temporary assistance to companies and their directors during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis, but on a permanent basis have significantly bolstered the UK’s restructuring tool kit. Amongst other matters, the CIG Act implements measures contained in the UK Government's consultation on Insolvency and Corporate Governance which concluded in August 2018.

Interviews are frequently conducted by office-holders with individuals previously involved with an insolvent company, such as directors and officers, employees, accountants, lawyers and other third parties. Such interviews will often provide key information regarding the company’s trading and dealings and the actions of its directors and employees, thereby assisting office-holders seeking to investigate potential fraud, misfeasance and other forms of misconduct.

Third parties are often caught (innocently or not) in the cross hairs of office holders seeking information and/or documents on the asset and liability position of a company in order to fulfil their functions properly and their duties to the creditors.

The recent case of The Official Receiver v Andrew Nathaniel Skeene and Junie Conrad Omari Bowers [2020] EWHC 1252 (Ch) (“Skeene”) is a good example of the crossover between insolvency related proceedings and criminal proceedings. In this case, the High Court considered the Official Receiver’s (“OR”) ability to disclose to the Serious Fraud Office (“SFO”) documents which had been obtained by the OR during the course of disqualification proceedings.

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COVID-19: LEGAL & REGULATORY CHANGES

CORPORATE INSOLVENCY AND GOVERNANCE ACT 2020 IN FORCE

Companies with an international footprint will need to ensure that their tax residence (and other taxable presence) is not affected by travel restrictions imposed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. HMRC has published guidance on these issues, which is somewhat helpful if less definitive than the approach of a number of other jurisdictions. Careful thought will be needed where senior executives/management are unable to travel, and so are required to carry on their role or participate in key management or commercial decision-making in a different jurisdiction from usual.

CIGA 2020 which received the Royal Assent on 25 June 2020 has introduced several significant changes to UK insolvency legislation. Some of these are temporary measures enacted in response to the Coronavirus pandemic to mitigate the effects of the lockdown. Others, however, are permanent measures that result from a consultation process to amend the Insolvency Act 1986 begun in 2016 and concluded in 2018.