Whilst AI is leading the agenda when it comes to the future of technology, fintech still remains the ace in the pack for investors. In fact, fintech businesses contribute more than £10 billion to the UK economy every year – supporting 76,000 jobs.
Fintechs also tend to outperform firms in other sectors too, with an annualised growth rate of 16% over the past decade, against 1.3% for the average SME.
The English Court of Appeal has clarified the interpretation of two aspects of s.423 of the Insolvency Act 1986, the legislation which provides a mechanism for the avoidance of transactions which have been made for the purpose of defrauding creditors:Invest Bank PSC v Ahmad Mohammad El-Husseini [2023] EWCA Civ 555.
Five years after the collapse of construction company giant, Carillion PLC, its former Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Zafar Khan has been disqualified from acting as a company director, or being concerned in its management, for 11 years. This is just 4 years short of the maximum period of 15 years, reflecting the seriousness of the allegations against him. The Insolvency Service accepted an undertaking from Mr Khan in settlement of its action against him.
The construction industry trade press frequently writes about administrations in the industry. Whilst the Insolvency Service's figures show that around one construction company went into administration every other day in Q1 2023, significantly higher numbers went quietly into liquidation during the same period.
In an earlier article we discussed The Insolvency Service's proposals for the UK to be an early adopter of two new "model laws" published by UNCITRAL relating to insolvency, namely the Model Law on Recognition and Enforcement of Insolvency-Related Judgments (MLIJ) and the Model Law on Enterprise Group Insolvency (MLEG).
The High Court (Mr Justice Quinn) has in the case of Mac Interiors Limited [2023] IEHC 395appointed an examiner by way of the direct appointment procedure to a company incorporated outside of the area to which the European Insolvency Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2015/848) (the “EIR”) applies. This is the first time the procedure has been used by the Irish courts in such circumstances.
Yesterday, the Supreme Court (SC) handed down judgment in Philipp v Barclays Bank UK Plc [2023] UKSC 25. In summary, the SC found that banks do not owe a duty to refrain from executing customers’ direct payment instructions where there may be an attempt to defraud the customer.
On 7 July 2022, the UK Government published a consultation on changing UK law to implement two model laws in the field of insolvency that have been adopted by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL). These are:
It's out! The Supreme Court has handed down its keenly awaited judgment on whether banks owe a Quincecare duty not to carry out a customer's instructions in cases of suspected fraud.
On 5 July 2023, the High Court sanctioned the restructuring plan proposed by Prezzo Investco Limited (theCompany) despite opposition from HMRC.