In part 2 of a series of blogs we consider whether a landlord can be forced to accept a surrender of a lease and the consequences of that. This point was recently considered in the context of a scheme of arrangements where the Court concluded that a landlord cannot be forced to accept a surrender of a lease because this affects the landlord’s proprietary rights and therefore was outside of the scope of the arrangement.…

In this three part blog we highlight three recent court decisions concerning landlord rights and insolvency, which provide cautionary warnings and surprising twists.  The questions we consider are: Does a company voluntary arrangement (“CVA”) permanently vary the terms of a lease? Can a landlord be forced to accept a surrender of a lease? What are the consequences of taking money from a rent deposit if the tenant company is in administration? In part 1 we consider…

E-filing a notice of appointment of administrators outside of court counter opening hours can impact the validity of an administrator’s appointment. The recent high court rulings in SJ Henderson & Company Limited and Re Triumph Furniture Limited [2019] EWHC 2742, and Re Skeggs Beef Limited [2019] EWHC 2607 (Ch) should serve as a caution that a company, the directors or a qualifying charge holder (QFCH) intending to e-file a Notice of Appointment (NOA) should always file this…

On June 26, 2019, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union published a new EU Restructuring Directive on preventive restructuring frameworks, discharge of debt and disqualifications, and measures to increase the efficiency of procedures concerning restructuring, insolvency and discharge of debt (“Directive”). This is an extraordinary achievement given the existing differences in restructuring regimes across EU Member States. The Directive applies to all Member States and is intended to create a uniform…

The hair salon Regis announced recently that the company has entered administration. The news might not come as a surprise because the chain, prior to the company’s administration, was subject to a company voluntary arrangement (“CVA”) whose validity was challenged by landlords. The joint administrator of Regis commented: “trading challenges, coupled with the uncertainty caused by the legal challenge, have necessitated the need for an administration appointment”. The appointment of administrators means that the legal challenge…

The Government announced an independent review of HMRCs loan charge in September 2019.  In this blog we consider the effect of the review on directors who have or are settling claims with HMRC and highlight that the review does not impact on potential claims against directors of insolvent businesses. Regardless of the outcome of the review, employee benefit trusts (“EBT”) which are not legitimate, are still tax avoidance schemes. If former directors of insolvent companies have acted…