The Companies Court has set out the requirements necessary to serve out of the jurisdiction under the Practice Direction on Insolvency Proceedings.

Key points

Lenders and proposed administrators should ensure that permission is in place where permission of prior charge holders is required for the grant of new security.

The facts

Key points

Creditors petitioning for bankruptcy must carefully consider offers to settle debts and make a reasonable decision based on the circumstances.

The facts

A bankrupt sought permission to appeal his bankruptcy order on the basis that the Deputy District Judge incorrectly held that the petitioning creditor did not act unreasonably in rejecting the bankrupt’s offer to compound the debt and, therefore, ought to have dismissed the petition pursuant to Section 271(3) of the Insolvency Act 1986.

The decision

The Copenhagen Reinsurance Company (CopRe) asked the UK High Court to make an Order sanctioning the intra-group transfer of the whole of its (re)insurance business to the Marlon Insurance Company (Marlon). Each of CopRe and Marlon wrote US excess and surplus lines insurance, and each of them maintained an excess and surplus lines trust fund in New York. The purpose of the transfer was to simplify the structure of the Enstar group. If the transfer was sanctioned, CopRe would be dissolved without winding up.

Key points

Rights under s23, s24 and s31 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 (the “Act”) can only be pursued by the spouses themselves. Consequently, any ongoing action brought pursuant to those sections of the Act does not vest in the trustee in bankruptcy on appointment.

The facts

Key points

Challenging the transfer of assets through ancillary proceedings as transactions at an undervalue remains challenging.

The facts

This case centred around a property in Coventry originally owned and developed by a Mr Singh. After failing to pay his builders a substantial amount, on which he was subsequently bankrupted, Mr Singh charged the property to his father and then his sister-in-law.

Lease Assignment and Guarantees: Case Update and Recap

Summary

There have been a number of recent instances, including this year, of quoted companies calling general meetings to seek shareholder approval to remedy dividends that were paid unlawfully. Invariably these have been for non-compliance with a statutory formality rather than because the company did not have sufficient distributable profits to make the dividend.

Why are companies prepared to suffer the embarrassment and expense of going to their shareholders to fix the breach rather than simply doing nothing?

In the week that Leicester City overcame odds of 5000/1 to be crowned Premier League champions, the insurance market was (almost) as astounded at the news that the long-awaited Third Parties (Rights Against Insurers) Act 2010, which received Royal Assent on 25 March 2010, will be coming into force on 1 August 2016.

A statutory instrument has recently been passed providing that the Third Parties (Rights Against Insurers) Act 2010 will, finally, come into force on 1 August 2016, some six years after it was first passed.

The act will replace and, in general, streamline the procedures put in place by the Third Parties (Rights Against Insurers) Act 1930. Perhaps the two most significant changes brought about by the 2010 Act are: