Every now and again our clients find themselves faced with a claim, or the threat of a claim, arising out of a construction contract where the party claiming money is in liquidation. In these circumstances it can be difficult to explain that a party in liquidation has no right to adjudicate a claim given that the right to adjudicate a dispute under a construction contract arises, according to the Construction Act, “at any time”. Hopefully any uncertainty surrounding this issue has now been finally resolved.
Section 423 of the Insolvency Act 1986 continues to be a useful tool available to creditors for challenging transactions at an undervalue.
Section 423 gives the English court the power to set aside a transaction (most notably an asset disposal or a dividend) entered into by a debtor if the value of the consideration received by that debtor is significantly less than the value of the consideration the debtor provides to the other party to the transaction. Creditors ought to bear in mind this power when scrutinising a debtor’s previous actions.
In early 2017 we reported that following various scandals affecting business in the UK, the Government had made it clear that it intended to crack down on unacceptable boardroom behaviour.
A report published by the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee suggested that the existing law governing corporate governance did not require revision. However, the Committee recommended a number of measures including a voluntary code of corporate governance for large private companies.
In the recent decision of Michael J Lonsdale (Electrical) Limited v Bresco Electrical Services Limited (In Liquidation) [2018] EWHC 2043 (TCC), Fraser J found that parties cannot resolve their disputes by means of adjudication where a company in liquidation and its counterparty both claim a pre-liquidation entitlement to payment of money by the other.
Can an adjudicator have jurisdiction over claims for sums owed to a referring party in liquidation? The TCC has decided in Lonsdale v Bresco that insolvency set-off precludes adjudication of such claims.
Background
Bresco had agreed to perform electrical installation works for Lonsdale in August 2014. Those works were not completed and both parties alleged wrongful termination. Bresco later became insolvent and entered into liquidation in March 2015.
Are you a company director? If so, are you fully aware of your responsibilities and duties to your company? It is common for directors to be completely uninformed of the full extent of their duties, sometimes holding the belief that they can essentially do what they like – particularly if they are also a sole shareholder, which is often the case with SMEs.
What are directors’ duties?
Richard Eaton examines company voluntary arrangements (CVAs) and their growing use in the commercial retail property sector.
Are CVAs on the rise?
A misfeasance claim under section 212 of the Insolvency Act 1986 (IA) is often a race against time to gather evidence and bring a claim before the limitation period expires. Not only can the breach pre-date the liquidation by years, but the difficulty is even greater where there is a maze of group companies and intra-group transfers. It takes time to properly work out whether a simple transfer of assets between group companies is actually a corporate shield hiding misappropriated assets.
BEIS has just published the Government's response to its March 2018 consultation on "Insolvency and Corporate Governance" reforms (for our March alert on this, click
The liquidation of developers, contractors and sub-contractors are a regular occurrence in both large and small scale construction projects, with the insolvent company often left with claims against other firms involved in the development. The right to adjudicate and then make use of the summary judgment route to enforce the adjudicator’s decision has long been the most powerful tool at the disposal of the creditor company.