Insolvency Event and Call for Papers - INSOL Academic Forum, Vienna, Wednesday 13 - Thursday 14 October 2010

Dr Paul Omar, the secretary of the Academic Forum of INSOL Europe, has sent out a call for papers for the INSOL Europe Academic Forum conference in Vienna on Wednesday 13 - Thursday 14 October 2010. Dr Omar has asked for expressions of interest in delivering papers on the following themes:

(a) Groups of Companies and Insolvency;

(b) Arbitration and Insolvency;

(c) Case-Studies of Large-Scale Insolvencies;

(d) Banking/Financial Markets Legislation and Insolvency.

Dr Omar has noted that interest in delivering a paper on these and any other suitably related themes may be communicated to: Paul Omar, Secretary, Academic Forum by e-mail:

Picture Credit: INSOL Europe.

New insolvency books from Hart publishing

Hart Publishing have just sent out their latest catalogue. There are some interesting new insolvency and related subject books on their list:

• Frisby, S. Corporate Rescue Law and Practice. Hart Publishing, September 2010, £50.00


• Jauch, HG & Vallender, H & Dahl, M (Eds). European Insolvency Law. Hart Publishing, November 2010, £170.00


• Mitchell, C (Ed). Constructive and Resulting Trusts. Hart Publishing, March 2010. £65.00


• Ringe, Gullifer, Thery (Eds). Current Issues in European Financial and Insolvency Law. Hart Publishing, 2009, £45.00.

The marketing material for the above books looks very interesting and is certainly worth a look in advance of publication.

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Insolvency Event: His Honour Judge Abbas Mithani QC - "Is Bankruptcy Worth it?"

His Honour Judge Abbas Mithani QC (pictured) is giving a talk at Birmingham Law School (BLS) on the 16 February 2010 at 5.30pm. His paper is entitled: "Is Bankruptcy Worth It?". The lecture is part of BLS's Forum for International Economic and Commercial Law events series. Judge Mithani QC is a visiting professor at BLS, Newcastle and at Kingston.

Picture Credit: http://www.jewelawards.tv/images/winners/central/judgemithanilegal.jpg

Statistics on Insolvency Levels for 2009

The Insolvency Service has released the statistics on insolvency levels for 2009. On the personal side the figures (pictured) show that there were 134,142 individual insolvencies in England and Wales in 2009. The Insolvency Service note that this equates to approximately 1 in every 320 adults (or 0.31%). This is an increase of 25.9% from 2008, where there was approximately 1 insolvency in every 400 adults (or 0.25%).

The statistics have attracted a fair amount of press attention and well as practitioner comment. The Financial Times, The Times, The Guardian, and the BBC, have all reported on the issue. The best headline prize goes to the Mirror for their story entitled, "367 a day go bust as bankruptcies hit record high."

On the practitioner side R3 President Peter Sargent noted, “Even these record personal insolvencies are just the tip of a very worrying personal debt iceberg. What lies below the waterline is a much larger group who are sadly not facing up to their debt problems.”

Picture Credit: http://www.insolvency.gov.uk/otherinformation/statistics/201002/index.htm

Agenda published for the forthcoming INSOL International Academics' Group Meeting - Dublin, 11-13 June 2010

INSOL have published the agenda for the forthcoming International Academics’ Group Meeting which is to be held in Dublin (the biggest city in the world, it keeps on doubling - sorry). The event is due to take place between 11 – 13 June 2010. The agenda looks very interesting and there is an excellent group of speakers and subject matter lined up. Here is the agenda:

Friday 11 June 2010
6.00 p.m. – 6.30 p.m. Delegate Registration
7.30 p.m. – 10.00 p.m. Welcome Dinner
The Radisson Blu Royal Hotel
8 Golden Lane
DUBLIN

Saturday 12 June 2010
9.00 a.m. – 5.30 p.m. Meeting Sessions

Sunday 13 June 2010
9.00 a.m. – 4.00 p.m. Meeting Sessions

CONFIRMED SPEAKERS

Revision of the EC Insolvency Regulation

Dr. Irit Mevorach, University of Nottingham
Alex Kastrinou, University of Westminster
Professor Adrian Walters, Nottingham Trent University and Anton Smith
Geldards LLP

The regulation, and the fiduciary duties, of insolvency practitioners
Professor David Burdette, Nottingham Trent University and
Professor Anneli Loubser, University of South Africa

“Things I wish the academics had taught us” – Opening lines of
communication between practice and academe
(Panel-led Open Forum).

Banks and Insolvency
Professor Roman Tomasic, Durham University
Andrew Campbell, University of Leeds
Dr Luminita Tuleasca, Romanian-American university of Bucharest

Insolvency within corporate groups:
Professor Angel Ballesteros, Pablo de Olavide University
Focus on Africa: national and international perspectives on insolvency law:
Doris Leno, University of Pretoria
Benhajj S. Masoud, Nottingham Trent University

International standard-setting and assessment; The ALI/III Global Principles
of Insolvency
Professor Ron Harmer (UCL)
Professor Bob Wessels (University of Leiden) and
Professor Ian Fletcher (UCL)

Recent reforms: reports and comments
“Research in progress” – members’ forum to exchange information and
ideas about current and prospective research:
(i) Issues surrounding the granting of comprehensive security
Professor André Boraine, University of Pretoria

Picture Credit: Insol International.

Statutory activity - Home Owner and Debtor Protection (Scotland) Bill

The Home Owner and Debtor Protection (Scotland) Bill has been introduced into the Scottish Parliament (pictured). The bill may become an Act of the Scottish Parliament. The Bill's objectives are to amend the law regarding the enforcement of standard securities over residential property; to amend the Bankruptcy (Scotland) Act 1985 as regards the grounds on which a debtor may apply for sequestration, the types of voluntary trust deed to which the Act applies, the sale or disposal of a debtor’s family home and requirements to publish notices about sequestration in the Edinburgh Gazette; and for connected purposes.

Picture Credit: http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/edinburgh/scottishparliament/images/parliamentx-450.jpg

Madoff's boat and jurisdiction to hear claims - Byers & Ors (Liquidators of Madoff Securities International Ltd) v Yacht Bull Corporation & Anor (Rev

The Vice-Chancellor has handed down his judgment in Byers & Ors (Liquidators of Madoff Securities International Ltd) v Yacht Bull Corporation & Anor (Rev 1) [2010] EWHC 133 (Ch) (01 February 2010). The case relates to assets in the Madoff affair, in particular, a Leopard 23m sport yacht called the Bull (pictured). As Sir Andrew Morritt goes on to observe: "the Bull ("the Bull") was registered in the Cayman Islands in the register of British shipping in the name of the first respondent Yacht Bull Corporation ("YBC") under number 740064. YBC is a company incorporated in the Cayman Islands formerly owned or controlled by Mrs Ruth Madoff, the wife of Mr Bernard Madoff. The Bull had been acquired with money, some $7m, emanating from Madoff Securities International Ltd ("MSIL"), a company incorporated in England then owned and controlled by Mr Bernard Madoff ("BM"). BM also owned and controlled Bernard Madoff Investment Securities LLC ("BMIS"), a company incorporated in New York. On 11th December 2008 BM admitted to having carried on a 'Ponzi' scheme, primarily through BMIS, whereunder some 5,000 investors were defrauded of $65bn."

The learned judge goes on to give a thorough exposition on various matters of jurisdiction touching on a number of provisions in the Insolvency Act. He notes, "On 8th July 2009 the JLs applied to the Companies Court in England under ss.112 and 234 Insolvency Act 1986 for a declaration that MSIL is the sole beneficial owner of the Bull, an order that YBC do co-operate with the applicants and a declaration that FM was precluded by s.130(2) Insolvency Act 1986 and Articles 4, 16 and 17 of EC Regulation 1346/2000 ("the Insolvency Regulation") from commencing or continuing proceedings against it..."

Sir Andrew concludes his lengthy analysis by noting:

"For all these reasons I will:

(a) declare that this court has no jurisdiction to hear or determine the claims advanced by paragraphs 1 and 2 of the Ownership Application;

(b) stay all further proceedings in respect of paragraphs 3 to 5 of the Ownership Application until such time as the issues raised in paragraphs 1 and 2 have been finally determined by the Courts in France or otherwise disposed of by compromise or abandonment.

I will hear further argument on the form of my order and on questions of costs."

Picture Credit: http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2009/6/29/1246271329031/Madoffs-yacht-Bull-003.jpg

Provisional liquidators appointed for the first time to an open ended investment company

Accountancy Age has reported that the first ever appointment of provisional liquidators has been made to an Open Ended Investment Company (OEIC). Resolve Partners LLP are the officeholders.

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Any questions: information on the insolvency enquiry line.

The Rt Hon Lord Mandelson's (pictured) Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has published a new guidance document in relation to insolvency. The document is entitled: "Any questions: information on the insolvency enquiry line." (URN: 10/510). The document explains what the insolvency enquiry line is, what it covers, its standards of service, and how to get in touch. The number is: 0845 602 9848.

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Latest Statistics on Insolvency due this Friday - speculation mounts in the Telegraph

The insolvency statistics for the last quarter in 2009 are due out this Friday (5th). Tension has already begun to mount at the Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail. The reliable broadsheet has published an article with the following title: "Business owners opt for personal insolvency" The article notes:

"A growing number of small business owners are opting for personal insolvency in a desperate attempt to keep their company afloat, research shows.

Bosses have been using credit cards to finance their business and been prepared to pay the consequences when pressed by card companies to settle their accounts to protect their company.

Official figures recorded a sharp rise in personal insolvencies in the first nine months last year, masking what economists feel would have been a bigger increase in total business failures during the depths of the recession..."

Picture Credit: Insolvency Service.

State aid: Commission approves liquidation of Bradford & Bingley

The European Commission has approved the liquidation of Bradford & Bingley. In a press statement the Commission noted:

"Following Bradford & Bingley's split-up and nationalisation of the part containing the impaired assets in 2008, the UK authorities notified a liquidation plan for the bank. The Commission has authorised the measures, because they are appropriate and necessary for an orderly winding down of the bank while taking into account the necessity to preserve the confidence of creditors in the financial system and remedy a serious disturbance of the UK economy. The Commission therefore concluded that the plan is compatible with Article 107(3)(b) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), that allows aid to remedy a serious disturbance in a Member State's economy."

Picture Credit: http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Business/Pix/pictures/2008/02/13/bradford2.jpg

Professor Telfer on Canadian Bankruptcy History

It is all go on the bankruptcy history front! In addition to Professor Kaden's talk which I mentioned yesterday, news reaches me via the Legal History Blog that Professor Thomas Telfer's (University of Western Ontario, Western Law - pictured) new paper "Ideas, Interests, Institutions and the History of Canadian Bankruptcy Law 1867-1880" is also now available on SSRN. Here is the abstract:

"Professor Michael Trebilcock’s scholarship has long recognized the importance of ideas, interests and institutions in shaping policy. Michael Trebilcock and Ninette Kelley make economic interests, contested ideas, and institutions the focus of The Making of the Mosaic: A History of Canadian Immigration Policy. Taking the same analytical approach that Michael Trebilcock and Ninette Kelley use in their ground-breaking book on the history of Canadian immigration, the paper examines the Canadian historical experience to gain an understanding of the ideas, interests, and institutions that have been influential in shaping the evolution of Canadian bankruptcy law. The paper addresses the rise of Canadian bankruptcy legislation in the early post Confederation period and its ultimate repeal in 1880. Bankruptcy law represented both a conflict of ideas over the morality of the bankruptcy discharge and a distinct divergence of interests between local and distant creditors over the advantages and disadvantages of a pro rata distribution. Institutional factors such as federalism, courts, and the emerging regulatory state also had an independent effect."

Reviewing the paper Professor Dan Ernst has noted: "I read an earlier draft of this paper and recommend it highly. Telfer provides an excellent case study in the law and politics of institutional choice. His research in the manuscript records of county courts, boards of trade, the Department of Justice, newspapers, and other sources, gives readers a vivid sense of who won and who lost in the choice of common-law and statutory regimes for governing a vital field of economic public policy."

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Professor Kadens on bankruptcy history at Duke University

Whilst further comments about Britain becoming a bankruptcy brothel get reported in the press, I can report that one of our bankruptcy bloggers, Professor Emily Kadens, University of Texas at Austin School of Law, has given a talk at Duke University (pictured) on the history of bankruptcy. The talk can be seen here. The title of the talk was "The Last Bankrupt Hanged: Capital Punishment for Bankruptcy in 18th Century England".

"This lecture frames the history of the Anglo-American bankruptcy tradition as a search for solutions to the basic problem: how to obtain the assistance of the debtor in his financial dismantling. Sponsored by the Law & History Society, the Duke Law Journal, the Business Law Society, and the Women Law Students Association."

Picture Credit: http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/01/0a/28/c8/duke-university-chapel.jpg