Insolvency Insights - Issue 10 | April 2022

• Published date: 04 May 2022
• Subject Matter: Corporate/Commercial Law, Insolvency/Bankruptcy/Re-structuring, Corporate and Company Law, Insolvency/Bankruptcy
• Law Firm: Quadrant Chambers
• Author: Mr Thomas Macey-Dare

OVERVIEW

Legislation

• The last of the temporary measures introduced by the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 to help protect companies affected by lockdown restrictions during the COVID pandemic including the general moratorium on commercial evictions, have expired.
• The Commercial Rent (Coronavirus) Act 2022 has entered into force. The Act provides a temporary ringfence for certain outstanding commercial rent debts related to the COVID pandemic and establishes a binding arbitration process to resolve rent disputes that cannot be settled by agreement.
• Following the July 2021 Reforming Competition and Consumer Policy consultation, the UK Government has presented proposals to Parliament for the reform of the UK competition and consumer protection regimes. The proposals include amendments to the Package and Travel Arrangement Regulations 2018 to allow better flexibility for insolvency protection for non-flight packages, and better protection for pre-paying customers of suppliers of goods and services which become insolvent, including Christmas Savings Clubs and similar savings schemes not covered by existing financial protections.
• The Insolvency Service has published its first five-yearly report on the operation of the Insolvency (England and Wales) Rules 2016. The report concludes that the Rules as a whole are operating correctly and that they are achieving the goals that were set for them. It also identifies a number of issues requiring attention, including the Creditors' Voluntary Liquidation process and the scope of insolvency applications.

Sanctions

• The Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019, SI 2019/855 empower the British Government to impose a variety of sanctions on individuals and entities, for the purpose of pressurising Russia over its actions in Ukraine. Among the entities which have been sanctioned under the Regulations are two Russian majority state owned banks, VTB and Sberbank, and their subsidiaries. Regulation 64 empowers the UK Treasury to issue licenses which permit particular persons to do acts which would otherwise be prohibited by the sanctions. The Government has recently granted a license under that regulation, permitting any person to make, receive or process payments and other action in connection with any insolvency proceedings relating to UK subsidiaries of VTB and Sberbank.

Caselaw

• In Bott & Co Solicitors Ltd v Ryanair DAC [2022] UKSC 8, the UK Supreme Court clarified the nature and scope of the...