Section 236 of the Insolvency Act and directors' disqualification

The question for the House of Lords in Re Pantmaenog Timber Co Ltd, Official Receiver v Wadge Rapps and Hunt was whether the powers conferred by s.236 of the Insolvency Act 1986 (“IA”) can lawfully be exercised solely or principally to obtain evidence for use in disqualification proceedings under the Company Directors' Disqualification Act 1986 (“CDDA”). It is important to stress that the question was simply one of jurisdiction : on the application of an administrator, administrative receiver, liquidator, provisional liquidator or the official receiver does the court have the power to summon any of the categories of person described in s.236(2) to provide the applicant with information and/or documents where the information and/or documents are required solely or principally in connection with disqualification proceedings that are being contemplated or are already pending

Personal insolvency law after the Enterprise Act: an appraisal

This paper offers an appraisal of the recent reforms of personal insolvency law introduced in England and Wales by the Enterprise Act 2002 which came into force on 1 April 2004. The paper suggests that the new law has four key structural elements: (i) the reduction in the duration of bankruptcy, (ii) the lifting of statutory restrictions and disabilities hitherto imposed on undischarged bankrupts, (iii) the new regime of post-discharge restrictions for so-called 'culpable' bankrupts, (iv) the introduction of a 'fast-track' post-bankruptcy individual voluntary arrangement procedure supervised by the official receiver. The new law is examined in the light of the policies that it seeks to promote and the implications for debtor incentives are considered. The paper’s principal conclusions are (i) that the legal incentives for debtors to opt for an individual voluntary arrangement rather than bankruptcy do not appear to be particularly compelling and (ii) that the significant investment required in a system that differentiates between 'honest' and 'culpable' bankrupts will only be worthwhile if credit providers are prepared to treat the former significantly more favourably than the latter

Report on parallel proceedings

Report of a Working Group considering the problems that arise from parallel proceedings, particularly in City fraud cases, within the national jurisdiction and ways in which those problems could be addressed. The Working Group was chaired by George Staple QC

Directors' disqualification after the Insolvency Act 2000: the new regime

Scope of amendments to 1986 Act allowing Secretary of State to accept disqualification undertakings from directors instead of resorting to disqualification orders and practical implications of new procedures, including cost incentives