Last night, the UK government confirmed what had been widely mooted in the press over the weekend – that there will be a four-week delay to the easing of COVID-19 restrictions in England and that the Step 3 restrictions will remain in place for now. The government’s intention is that England will move to Step 4 (the lifting of all restrictions) on 19 July, but it has promised to review the data again in two weeks in…

The recent case of Manolete Partners Plc v Hayward and Barrett Holdings Ltd [2021] EWHC 1481 (Ch) impacts both insolvency practitioners and assignees of insolvency claims, potentially making such claims more expensive to bring and a procedural burden by requiring (depending on the nature of the pleaded claims) two sets of proceedings, even though the claims arise from the same facts. Although the judge reached his conclusions “with regret” and those conclusions essentially arise because of…

Both Spain and Italy have introduced recent changes to their insolvency laws. The changes are covered in our global guide and cover: Spain The obligation for a debtor to file for bankruptcy within two months of becoming insolvent is suspended until December 31 2021. Updates to the Modification of the Creditor’s agreement measures. Postponement of the duty to request the opening of the liquidation phase of the insolvency proceedings has been extended until December 31…

Our most recently updated guide includes updates for the UK, UAE, Germany, the Czech Republic, Italy. In brief, the updates include: UK Updates to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), Statutory Sick Pay (SPP) and VAT deferral scheme. United Arab Emirates An extension to the TESS scheme Germany Updates on Bridging Aid available to small and medium-sized companies, and applications for extraordinary financial and hardship assistance applications AID for Vaccine Glass Production Czech Republic Changes to…

Even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, most retail bankruptcy cases involved at least some effort to maximize value by selling real estate holdings. The Bon Ton Stores, Forever 21, Sears, and Toys ‘R’ Us cases, among others, are perfect examples. These cases have, for the most part, achieved such sales under section 363(f) of the Bankruptcy Code with minimal resistance, typically on expedited time-frames. The lingering impact of the pandemic will likely continue to cause…

Three weeks after the introduction of the mandatory requirement to obtain an evaluator’s report or seek creditor approval before completing a substantial disposal of a company’s business or assets to a connected person, we have updated our Q&A to include new answers in light of the Insolvency Service’s guidance and following discussions with our clients.  The updated Q&A can be accessed here and sets out key questions that UK insolvency practitioners should consider before, during…

Following in the footsteps of the New Look CVA challenge judgment (see our blog here) it was not unsurprising that Zacaroli J dismissed all but one of the landlord challenge claims when handing down his judgment in Regis. The Regis CVA challenge has been ongoing since November 2018. Initially it was thought (following Regis entering into administration and the CVA terminating) that the challenge application would fall away, but with questions still remaining –…