Category: News

This is Categories of News

Sections 235 and 236 Insolvency Act 1986: Directors’ Duties to Co-operate with Liquidators

Sections 235 and 236 of the Insolvency Act 1986 impose powerful duties on company directors, officers, employees, and even third parties to co-operate with insolvency office-holders such as liquidators and administrators. Failure to assist properly during liquidation, administration, or bankruptcy can result in personal sanctions, court orders, fines, and even director disqualification.

Personal Liability Notices (PLNs) Guide 2026: What Directors Need to Know

Personal Liability Notices (PLNs) are a powerful HMRC enforcement mechanism that can make company directors and officers personally liable for unpaid corporate tax debts, including PAYE, National Insurance Contributions, VAT, and CIS. In 2026, PLNs are increasingly used in insolvency and enforcement scenarios, placing directors’ personal assets and professional futures at direct risk.

Digital cityscape at dawn highlighting a modern office building with overlaid financial charts and a glowing path, representing HMRC Time to Pay negotiation and structured tax repayment in 2026.

HMRC Time To Pay Guide 2026: Instalments for Unpaid Tax

A HMRC Time to Pay (TTP) arrangement lets businesses spread unpaid tax over manageable monthly instalments. In 2026, with HMRC enforcement increasing, well-prepared TTP proposals backed by financial evidence help avoid winding-up petitions, protect directors, and keep businesses trading.

An illustrative graphic representing international trade finance, featuring a cargo ship, a freight plane, a globe, and secured financial documents with green checkmarks and a padlock icon, alongside stacks of cash.

Bank Refused Payment Under a Letter of Credit? Legal Rights in UK and International Trade

A letter of credit is a powerful trade finance instrument that protects both buyers and sellers by reducing payment risk in domestic and international transactions. When structured correctly, it provides certainty of payment, improves cash flow, and limits exposure to counterparty default.

London skyline (Houses of Parliament/Big Ben) with a cracked insurance contract, a bundle of Pound Sterling cash, and a symbolic broken chain. Represents the UK Court of Appeal ruling confirming COVID-19 business interruption cover and rejecting insurer arguments on causation

Insurers Lose Appeal on COVID-19 Business Interruption Cover (At-the-Premises Disease Clauses)

The Court of Appeal in London International Exhibition Centre plc v Allianz & Ors [2024] EWCA Civ 1026 upheld the High Court’s ruling that policyholders can recover COVID-19 business interruption losses under “at the premises” disease wordings, holding that each case of COVID-19 at the insured premises formed part of the concurrent cause of national closure orders.

Stylised digital illustration showing a blockchain network connecting to the Royal Courts of Justice silhouette, symbolising the intersection of cryptocurrency technology and English fiduciary law.

Court of Appeal: Blockchain Developers Owe Fiduciary Duties to Crypto Owners (Cryptocurrency Litigation)

In Tulip Trading Ltd v van der Laan & Ors [2023] EWCA Civ 83, the Court of Appeal held that software developers maintaining Bitcoin networks may arguably owe fiduciary duties to crypto owners, recognising a serious issue to be tried on whether developers’ control over blockchain code gives rise to duties of loyalty and care towards asset holders.