An out-of-hours office appointment of an administrator, although not unusual, is not a regular occurrence in the world of insolvency. It is however, exactly what happened at 4am on Monday 2 October, as Britain’s longest surviving airline brand ‘Monarch’ entered administration. The collapse of the airline comes as a result of mounting cost pressures in an increasingly competitive market and is the third European airline insolvency in 2017, following Air Berlin and Alitalia. Despite the…

The recent Court of Appeal decision in Saw (SW) 2010 Ltd and another v Wilson and others (as joint administrators of Property Edge Lettings Ltd) is the first case to address the effect of automatic crystallisation of an earlier floating charge upon a later floating charge. In order for a floating charge to be a valid qualifying floating charge it must comply with the requirements of paragraph 14 of Schedule B1 Insolvency Act 1986 (“para 14”). These requirements are…

The recent case of Crumper v Candey Ltd [2017] EWCH 1511 (Ch) delivered an updated analysis of the operation of section 245 of the Insolvency Act 1986 (“s245”). Although the insolvency proceedings (and much of the litigation before and after the insolvency commenced) originated in the British Virgin Islands, they were recognised in England and Wales under the Cross Border Insolvency Regulations 2006. Accordingly, the BVI liquidators were entitled to apply for the same relief…

A recent decision in the High Court provided guidance with respect to the apparent conflict between freezing orders that have been granted over assets that are subject to an existing security. Generally speaking, a freezing order should only catch the unsecured elements of assets. The question facing the court in Taylor v Van Dutch Marine Holding Ltd [2017] EWHC 636 (Ch) was whether TCA Global Master Fund LP (the “Secured Debenture Holder”) required a variation…

When reviewing a security for costs application under CPR 25.12, the courts are faced with the challenge of striking a balance between an impecunious claimant’s access to justice and the possibility of a successful defendant being unable to recover their costs. This is because the general rule in relation to costs under CPR 44.2 is that the unsuccessful party will pay the costs of the successful party. However, a recent decision in the Chancery Division…

The construction industry has never been a stranger to insolvency. There are many factors for insolvency practitioners appointed over a part complete site to consider – security issues, engaging with contractors, creditors and suppliers at the earliest opportunity, not to mention the potential health and safety exposure. The insolvency practitioner will also need to make a decision as to whether to complete a development over which they are appointed or sell the site in whatever…

The availability of the remedy of subrogation has been explored at length by the courts recently. The leading authority of Bank of Cyprus Limited v Melenaou is thought to be the first of its kind where a lender has been entitled to be subrogated to an unpaid vendor’s lien where the lender did not advance funds for the purchase of the property. The principles identified in that case were considered and applied in the case…