8 fathom . AUGUST 2015 Shipping Case Digest |by Andrew Chiew Ean Vooi and Jennifer James Ilango| MV “Sanko Mineral” With the current downturn in the shipping industry, shipowner insolvency is often a concern. In the MV “Sanko Mineral” (the Sanko Mineral),1 we find juxtaposition between in rem proceedings in the Admiralty court and cross-border insolvency proceedings. (i) Tokyo insolvency proceedings In July 2012, the owners of the Sanko Mineral, Sanko Holdings (“Sanko”) entered into reorganisation proceedings under the Corporate Reorganisation Act in Japan.

In March 2015 the coalition government issued a call for evidence to understand in more detail the employee consultation process when a company is facing insolvency. Last month the government issued its Response. This attracted 28 responses from organisations including law firms, trade unions, insolvency practitioners and professional bodies.

Real Estate Disputes Case Review 2015 In case you have missed the last 12 months’ most significant property cases, or would like a reminder, listed below is our monthly review of this year’s important cases. Briefing Real Estate December 2015 December 2014 Landlord protecting tenant’s deposits A landlord’s ability to seek possession of residential premises under section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 was considered when the tenant’s deposit had not been protected in an authorised scheme at the time of service of the notice.

The government has today announced that the insolvency exception to the Jackson reforms will come to an end in April next year. This means that CFA success fees and ATE insurance premiums will no longer be recoverable in proceedings brought by liquidators, administrators, trustees in bankruptcy, and companies in liquidation or administration.

Insolvency practitioners (‘IP’s) tasked with dealing with an often failing business for the purposes of protecting creditors’ interests face a number of issues. The Regulator has sought to provide clarity in two particular areas that IPs come across in their work by issuing notes (the ‘Notes’) on these issues (September 2015).

Trustee Appointments

In a written statement this morning from Lord Faulks QC, Minister of State for Civil Justice, the government has announced that, from April 2016, insolvency litigation will no longer be exempt from what have been abbreviated to “the LASPO reforms”.

This article was first published by The Gazette and the full article can be found online here. 

An update on recent changes

1 October 2015 – A day of changes to insolvency law

The start of October 2015 brought about important changes in insolvency law, affecting both creditors and debtors alike. The most notable changes are detailed below.

Harmonising office holder claims in administration  and  liquidation

In Lockston Group Inc v Nicholas Stewart Wood [2015] EWHC 2962 (Ch), the English High Court held that foreign currency claims and claims for interest in a deceased insolvent's estate should be calculated at the date of death, rather than the date of any insolvency administration order. This case serves as a reminder of the importance of the pari passu principle in insolvency law and the requirement for a single date for ascertaining a deceased insolvent's liabilities.

Facts

According to the UK Gift Card & Voucher Association, in 2014 the gift card and voucher market was worth £5.4 billion in the UK and $124 billion in the US. 

Gift cards can confer numerous benefits on the retailer, including promotion, working capital and additional profit from up-spend, and are popular with consumers as a method of paying for goods and services in advance of receiving them.