Relief for lenders and administrators as UK Supreme Court reverses “super-priority” status of pensions liabilities in insolvency ranking.

The judgment handed down on 6 June 2013 by the Court of Appeal in the case of The Trustees of the Olympic Airlines SA Pension and Life Assurance Scheme v Olympic Airlines SA [2013] EWCA Civ 643 reversed a High Court decision made in May 2012 that a winding up order could be granted in the UK in respect of Olympic Airlines, the Greek national airline, which was in liquidation in Greece as a result of it receiving illegal state aid and the privatisation of the airline business.

The Supreme Court has boosted the rescue culture by ruling that Financial Support Directions (FSDs) issued by the UK Pensions Regulator after commencement of insolvency proceedings are not an expense of the administration and, instead, rank on a par with unsecured claims. This decision in the Nortel and Lehman administrations will be reassuring to creditors and insolvency and restructuring practitioners.

Key Points

A recent overruling by the Supreme Court has revoked the priority status of pension schemes issued with a Financial Support Direction (FSD) or Contribution Notice (CN) by the Pensions Regulator, following an insolvency event. Whilst the decision largely affects companies operating within England and Wales, Scottish Courts are expected to be guided by the ruling.

The 2011 decision

Summary

Odd as it may seem, you have to plough through 122 sections of the UK Insolvency Act 1986 (the “Act”) before you finally reach the section that sets out the criteria for establishing insolvency. Section 123 of the Act lists a series of circumstances under which a company may be deemed insolvent. Some of these circumstances are factual—for example, owing a debt of more than £750 for more than 21 days after a demand for payment—but two rely on a legal test of company insolvency.

Background

Under the Pensions Act 2004 the Pensions Regulator (tPR) has the power to impose a financial support direction (FSD) requiring a company “connected or associated” with the sponsoring employer of a UK pension fund to provide financial support to the pension fund. To date tPR has used the power in insolvencies.

The majority of businesses have periods of stress and distress during their life cycle. The keys to managing these periods to achieve a successful profitable business are recognition, decision and implementation.

In most cases, management are aware (from available internal management information) of issues arising before they do in terms of a potential reduction in revenue or increase in cost. Once these periods are recognised management can move to address them by taking decisions to manage the situation to a positive outcome.

English courts may, when making ex parte (without notice) orders in a court-appointed receivership, include a final order that the defendant pays the costs incurred in obtaining the order notwithstanding that it was not notified of the application for the order.

The Court of Appeal’s decision in the matters of Nortel GMBH and Lehman Brothers International (Europe) (both in administration) and other companies has been overturned by the Supreme Court. Liabilities imposed on insolvent companies by the Pensions Regulator (“tPR”) will not be treated as an expense of the insolvency, which would be payable by the office holder in advance of making payment of his own remuneration or to floating charge holders. The liability will rank as an unsecured debt rateably with all other unsecured creditors.