Proof of debt meaning

Christopher Purkiss (as liquidator of Ethos Solutions Limited) v Tim Kennedy and others [2025] EWCA Civ 268 Ethos Solutions Limited (the Company) ran a disguised remuneration arrangement under which sums were channelled to an employee benefit trust (EBT) without withholding income tax or NICs. The EBT’s trustee allocated funds into sub-trusts for the respondents and, when asked, advanced the amounts to them as discretionary loans. On 4 December 2012, HMRC issued determinations, holding the Company liable for income tax and NICs of c.£2m arising from payments made to the EBT in the 2008‑09 and 2009‑10 tax years. On 18 December 2012, the Company entered creditors’ voluntary liquidation, making no remittances to HMRC and taking no steps to appeal. On 9 January 2013, HMRC lodged a proof of debt totalling c.£2m with respect to those same EBT payments, as claimed therein...

In this issue: Key R&I law developments Corporate insolvency procedures Creditors’ involvement Property insolvency Directors and insolvency Insolvency litigation Restructuring Daily and weekly news alerts New content Key R&I law developments Navigating UK sanctions in bankruptcy proceedings—the Hellard decision (Hellard V OJSC Rossiysky Kredit Bank) The High Court issued guidance to the trustees in bankruptcy of a Russian individual on issues arising under the Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019. Given the potential for serious criminal and civil penalties, any action taken in an insolvency that touches on actual or suspected sanctioned parties is a high‑risk area for officeholders. The court confirmed that trustees would not breach UK sanctions by permitting sanctioned entities to engage in the bankruptcy process, prior to any distribution, as creditors—this expressly covers voting in creditors’ decision procedures and taking part in, and voting on, the creditors’ committee. See News Analysis: Navigating UK sanctions in bankruptcy proceedings—the...

In this issue Key DR developments Claims and remedies Cross-border disputes Injunctions Litigation Case management Civil appeals Scottish Dispute Resolution New content Dates for your diary Useful information LexTalk®Dispute Resolution: a Lexis®Nexis community Daily and weekly news alerts Key DR developments Speeches Master of the Rolls delivers a speech that highlights the International Jurisdiction Taskforce to align digital asset laws The Courts and Tribunals Judiciary has released the speech by Sir Geoffrey Vos, Master of the Rolls, delivered on 6 November 2025 at the 45th Anniversary of the Centre for Commercial Law Studies, Queen Mary University of London. In that address, he set out the creation and remit of the International Jurisdiction Taskforce—an international body formed in July 2025 to foster alignment of private law systems for digital assets, digital finance and digital trade across multiple jurisdictions, including the UK, the United States of America, France, Singapore, Australia, Japan...

Good character requirement Pursuant to section 6(1) of the British Nationality Act 1981 (BNA 1981) and Sch 1, para 1(1)(b), anyone seeking naturalisation as a British citizen is required to be of good character. This good character test equally covers applicants aged ten or above who seek registration as British citizens. That said, the good character rule does not apply to several categories of applications, notably those brought under: the statelessness routes in BNA 1981, Sch 2 BNA 1981, section 4B, for an eligible individual with no nationality other than as a British Overseas citizen, British subject under BNA 1981, British protected person, or British National (Overseas) BNA 1981, section 4C, for an eligible person born between 1961 and 1983 BNA 1981, sections 4G–4I, for an eligible person who could not previously obtain citizenship because their natural father was not married to their mother (save that, for BNA 1981, section 4F applications, the pertinent registration ground is BNA 1981, sections 1(3),...

This Practice Note considers exclusion and limitation of liability in business-to-business (B2B) contracts. This Practice Note offers guidance on the common law and statutory controls that govern exclusion and limitation of liability clauses (also described as limitation of liability clauses, limitation clauses, exclusion of liability clauses, exclusion clauses and exemption clauses), including the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 (UCTA 1977) and the Misrepresentation Act 1967 (MA 1967). It identifies which provisions amount to exemption clauses and sets out three central matters to address when drafting them or assessing them in a dispute: incorporation construction statutory controls It also outlines the courts’ treatment of attempts to exclude or restrict liability for certain breaches (eg fundamental breach) and for different heads of loss (eg direct loss, indirect and consequential loss, loss of profits, loss of use and loss of data). It notes common techniques parties use to allocate or restrict risk (eg financial caps, time bars, excluding rights of set-off) and addresses...

Hotchpot rule of domestic English law The hotchpot doctrine has long formed a settled element of domestic English law. In essence, it obliges a creditor to give credit for sums recovered in another jurisdiction, whether through court action or otherwise, before sharing in any dividend in English insolvency. Where the rate it has achieved overseas outstrips the percentage payable to other creditors in the English process, it is barred from taking part in the dividend distributed in England. The Privy Council, in Cleaver v Delta American Reinsurance (in liquidation), encapsulated the rule as requiring a creditor to 'bring into the common fund what he has received abroad'. It also made clear that the rule has no application to property that never entered the common fund (eg secured assets). In Cleaver, a secured creditor (the letter of credit meant he was secured in substance) was entitled to realise his collateral, set the proceeds against the indebtedness, and lodge a proof in the English liquidation for any remaining shortfall. He was...