In this bulletin, we focus on director duties and actions against directors. We consider director disqualifications and pursuing directors in relation to EBT schemes; reflecting on the recent decision in Manolete Partners PLC (Re Blackwater plc) and practical considerations for issuing claims; and Olivia Reader considers when the Court may allow a disqualified director to act as a director. Separately, Cathryn Butler provides an update on the latest Government measures, including the expiry of the suspension of wrongful trading, the proposed legislation to extend director investigations to dissolved companies and a timely reminder on the importance of maintaining adequate books and records.
In the recent case against Lee Edward Lummis and Craig Stanley Lummis (the Directors) of Avacade Limited (the Company) brought by the Secretary of State for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy (the SoS), the court ordered disqualification of the Directors in relation to transactions entered before the Company was placed into liquidation and where the Company entered into various tax planning schemes. The decision provides helpful guidance in relation to directors' duties in the context of employee benefits schemes – even where (as in this case) the tax liabilities have still not crystalised.
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The recent case of Manolete Partners plc v Hayward & Barrett Holdings Limited and others (Re Blackwater Plant Limited [2021] EWHC 1481 (Ch) has caused some consternation in the insolvency community as it has potentially significant consequences for how certain claims can be brought and case managed together, whether those claims have been assigned to a third party (as here) or are pursued by the office holder directly. We consider how this plays out in practice.
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In the recent case of Hobson v Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, [2021] EWHC 1317 (Ch) the court considered the relevant considerations to give permission for an individual to act as a director, notwithstanding a current disqualification order or undertaking.
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