Giselle McGowan
Giselle McGowan has a commercial chancery practice with a particular emphasis on insolvency and indirect tax litigation. Giselle is regularly instructed by office-holders, directors, creditors and/or debtors in a variety of personal and corporate insolvency matters including disputed petitions, misfeasance, breach of duty and wrongful and fraudulent trading claims and applications to set aside antecedent transactions.
As Junior Counsel to the Crown, B Panel, Giselle is frequently instructed by HMRC and BEIS in insolvency, director disqualification and indirect tax matters. Prior to joining the independent bar, Giselle was an employed barrister at HMRC Solicitor’s Office, working in the Enforcement and Insolvency and VAT teams.
Practice Area
Panel
- Contributing Author
Qualified Year
- 2011
Experience
- 9 Stone Buildings (2013 - 2024)
- HMRC Solicitor’s Office (2011 - 2013)
Qualifications
- BA (2007)
- GDL (2010)
- BPTC (2011)
Education
- University of Sheffield (2007)
- College of Law (2011)
3 Contributions by Giselle McGowan
PRACTICE NOTES
CDDA 1986 directors’ disqualification pre-action protocol: investigation, office-holder reporting, evidence and fairness, three-year limitation and section 16 notice (England, Wales and Scotland)
Pre-action investigation and protocol
Who brings proceedings under section 6 of the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986?
All proceedings under section 6 of the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986 (CDDA 1986) are instituted by the Secretary of State for Business and Trade (SoS), within the Department for Business and Trade. As a matter of practice, the Insolvency Service performs the SoS’s functions and duties. Proceedings are commenced either in the SoS’s own name or, in compulsory winding up cases, by the official receiver (OR) acting under the SoS’s direction. Each undertakes the same responsibilities, exercising identical functions for these purposes, and, for convenience, any reference to the SoS in this Practice Note should be read as including the OR. Also note that directors of dissolved companies that have not been through an insolvency process may likewise be disqualified under CDDA 1986, s 6 following amendments introduced by the Rating (Coronavirus) and Directors Disqualification (Dissolved Companies) Act 2021; however, such disqualifications fall outside the scope of this Practice Note...
Restructuring & Insolvency
PRACTICE NOTES
Director disqualification: comprehensive overview of grounds, procedure and undertakings under the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986 and Insolvency Act 1986 (including application to LLP members)
Director disqualification
A number of routes exist for removing a person from office as a director of a limited liability company. Most frequently, this occurs by reason of ‘unfit conduct’ while serving as a director of an insolvent company, pursuant to section 6 of the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986 (CDDA 1986). That said, further and less commonly used provisions within CDDA 1986 and the Insolvency Act 1986 (IA 1986) also permit the disqualification of a company director. Whichever statutory route is relied upon, the effect on the disqualified individual is broadly identical and is explained in more detail in Practice Note: What is prohibited for a disqualified director? By virtue of CDDA 1986, s 7, applications for a disqualification order under s 6 are made either by the Secretary of State for Business and Trade (SoS) or, on the SoS’s direction, by the official receiver (OR) in compulsory winding up cases only. They perform equivalent functions, and references to the SoS are to be read as including the OR...
Restructuring & Insolvency
PRACTICE NOTES
Procedural issues in CDDA 1986 s 6 disqualification: disclosure, transfer, undertakings and Carecraft, publicity, setting aside and variation, and costs (England and Wales)
Disclosure
Under the Part 8 route, there is generally no formal, standard obligation to disclose documents. Accordingly, a party to director disqualification proceedings need not give disclosure unless specifically directed to do so, or where the material is cited or identified in their written evidence. If disclosure is sought from the Secretary of State (SoS), that request does not extend to items not in their personal possession, even where such records are held by the insolvency practitioner (IP) or another third party. Any disclosure from those holders must instead be pursued separately and directly from them. In keeping with their duty of fairness, the SoS will, as a matter of course, disclose all that they are able to, and, where available, will always exhibit documentary proof of anything relied upon in their affidavit. If, in the course of an investigation, the SoS obtains documents from third parties, they will, upon request, likewise provide the defendant with copies of that supporting material...
Restructuring & Insolvency
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