Insolvency Technical Update - December 2018

The new Scottish corporate insolvency rules will bring significant changes to the way corporate insolvency procedures are conducted in Scotland. ICAS, in association with BPP, have a number of courses running throughout January 2019 to help practitioners and their staff get prepared for the changes which will come into effect in April 2019. You can book your places now.

The Order will come into effect on 6 April 2019 and will require all employers to provide payslips to all workers and show hours on payslips where the pay varies by the amount of time worked. The right to an itemised payslip currently only applies to employees, a subcategory of worker in employment legislation. The new requirements will apply to pay periods beginning after 6 April 2019.

Guidance has been published to help employers, workers and their advisers understand the new legislation.

The Accountant in Bankruptcy has published the Winter 2018 edition of their PTD Bulletin. The edition includes information on:

• examples of cases where protection has been refused
• HMRC correspondence requirements
• ASTRA being updated with incorrect forms or cases being created in error
• keeping the AiB updated on contact details
• the latest PTD statistics
• …..and more

The Insolvency Service have issued Dear IP 84. This edition covers:

• Closing an Insolvency Services Account
• Companies House Forms – Special Education Administration regime and new Scottish corporate rules
• Statement of Affairs – employee and consumer information requirements
• New corporate insolvency rules for Scotland
• IP support in criminal investigations and proceedings

The Budget contained announcements relating to a breathing space and statutory debt repayment plan to be introduced in England and Wales. The policy consultation document proposes that insolvency practitioners will only be able to participate if they are also FCA authorised.

Responses to the consultation on the detailed policy proposals may be submitted up to 29 January 2019.

The Accountant in Bankruptcy has also issued a consultation paper entitled ‘Building a better DAS’.

The consultation focuses on four areas:

*           proposed changes to DAS payments distribution;

*           a new fee structure;

*           reducing bureaucracy; and

*           improved flexibility.

Responses to the consultation may be submitted up to 24 January 2019.

Note by Sheriff Gregor Murray in relation to petitions for sequestration by Angus Council Petitions for Warrant to Cite in three sequestrations were dismissed where total summary warrants issued for council tax debt against each individual was in excess of £3,000 but where the expired charge for payment related to only one of the summary warrant debts and was below £3,000.

Global Corporate v Hale [2018] EWCA Civ 2618 The Court of Appeal has confirmed that directors cannot avoid unlawful distribution claims by asserting that dividends should be retroactively re-categorised as remuneration for services they have provided to the company. (via TLT LLP)

OJSC International Bank of Azerbaijan [2018] EWHC 59 (Ch) The Court of Appeal has upheld that creditors with debts governed by English law cannot see their debt discharged by foreign insolvency proceedings.