Recently the Minister of Justice issued a draft bill which, if enacted, will introduce a directorship disqualification order under civil law. The bill is open for consultation until 31 May 2013.

On 1 March 2009, the Guideline on Investigation and Prosecution of Bankruptcy Fraud (Aanwijzing opsporing en vervolging faillissementsfraude; the “Guideline”) entered into force. The Guideline contains rules for the Public Prosecution Office (Openbaar Ministerie) to increase the prosecution of bankruptcy fraud. The Guideline indicates that criminal law will be complementary to the civil law instruments that a receiver (curator) has in bankruptcy proceedings. The Guideline further provides for cooperation between the Public Prosecution Office and receivers.

The much anticipated Mainzeal judgment is released

Arena Capital Limited (Arena) was a Ponzi scheme.  Arena's liquidators applied under s284(1)(a) of the Companies Act 1993 for directions regarding the distribution of assets under liquidation.

The Court held that dividing the assets into trust assets and general assets was inefficient in the circumstances and ordered a "common pool approach."  The Court ordered distribution on a pro rata, pari passu basis.  The investors had borne the same degree of risk and it was not cost-effective to trace the numerous small contributions.

Another company being investigated by the FMA and the SFO for allegedly operating a Ponzi scheme, Hansa Limited, was placed into liquidation by the High Court in late November 2016.  Those investors who lost money may be interested to learn that one of the liquidators appointed to Hansa, Mr Damien Grant, is a convicted fraudster, who had also given evidence to a High Court judge and jury that was subsequently 'discredited', that an accessory to the frauds was the originator and brains behind the frauds.  Proposed licensing of insolvency practitioners may well exclude those with di

James Developments Limited (JDL) went into liquidation on 6 July 2009.

In November 2012, the liquidator issued proceedings against a trust for repayment of a loan, six years and one month after the loan was made.  The trustees argued the claim was time-barred.  The liquidator argued there had been a fraudulent cover-up of the loan and that the High Court should postpone the limitation period under section 28 of the Limitation Act 1950 (Act).

Year in Review – Derecho Español en 2016

En los últimos meses se han sucedido en España dos procesos de elecciones generales y las distintas fuerzas políticas no han llegado a un acuerdo para formar gobierno hasta octubre de 2016. Lo anterior ha supuesto una ralentización importante de la actividad legislativa. Destacamos a continuación las principales novedades normativas y jurisprudenciales de 2016:

Year in Review – Spanish Law in 2016

Two general elections were held in Spain recently (the first in December 2015) and the various political parties were unable to reach an agreement to form a government until October 2016. This meant a major slowdown in law-making activity. The following are the main legislative changes and case-law precedents from 2016:

La Ley 27/2014, de 27 de noviembre, del Impuesto sobre Sociedades (“LIS”), aplicable a los periodos impositivos iniciados a partir del 1 de enero del 2015 introdujo importantes novedades en relación con el régimen especial de neutralidad fiscal aplicable a las operaciones de reestructuración (“Régimen Especial”).

Entre otras, el Régimen Especial ha quedado configurado como el régimen aplicable por defecto a estas operaciones, no siendo necesario optar por su aplicación (sin perjuicio de la obligación de comunicar la realización de la operación a la Administración Tributaria).

Spanish insolvency law has been modified recently by Act 22/2003. This is the culmination of a long process aimed at including in Spanish Law an insolvency law that will rectify the failures of previous legislation and create a law that fits in with social, economic and legal reality. In order to incorporate the criminal sanctions available against insolvent companies, this Act has also modified various articles of the Penal Code.