Public interest winding up meaning

Insolvency, revenue law, and civil procedure (The Commissioners for HMRC v Payroll & Pension Services (PPS Umbrella Company) Ltd) Revenue and Customs Commissioners v Payroll & Pension Services (PPS Umbrella Company) Ltd [2024] EWCA Civ 995 What are the practical implications of this case? Before this ruling, first-instance decisions had split along two paths: one held that HMRC was discharging a public interest or law-enforcement role and so need not provide any cross-undertaking in damages; the other treated HMRC, for these purposes, as no different from a creditor enforcing a debt, requiring a cross-undertaking as the price of the order. The Court of Appeal confirmed the latter strand is right. Because appointing provisional liquidators can have a catastrophic impact on a company’s business, if such relief is wrongly obtained the company now has at least some assurance that it may pursue the undertaking. Accordingly, HMRC must proffer a cross-undertaking when seeking the order. This provides a measure of protection where the appointment proves unwarranted. What was the...

In this issue: Corporate insolvency processes Personal insolvency Restructuring Directors and insolvency The office-holder R&I in Scotland Daily and weekly news alerts Key dates for restructuring and insolvency professionals New content Corporate insolvency processes Public law defences in winding up petitions under section 85 of the Finance Act 2022 (Re Purity Ltd) HMRC issued a public interest winding up petition under section 85 of the Finance Act 2022 (FA 2022), which was listed for trial. After the petition was presented, the company commenced judicial review proceedings contesting HMRC’s decision to petition, and then sought a stay of the winding up case. Its position was that public law defences could not be aired at the petition trial, as such arguments were for the Administrative Court alone. The court decided that FA 2022, s 85 petitions should be approached in the same way as public interest petitions brought under section 124 of the Insolvency...

In this issue: Key R&I law developments Restructuring Insolvency litigation The office-holder Tax and insolvency International restructuring and insolvency Daily and weekly news alerts Key dates for restructuring and insolvency professionals New content Key R&I law developments Insolvency Service publishes February 2026 enforcement outcomes management information The Insolvency Service has refreshed its enforcement outcomes management information tables for February 2026. Figures indicate 114 director disqualifications, together with eight bankruptcy and debt relief restrictions. See: LNB News 19/03/2026 36. Insolvency Service launches consultation on corporate civil enforcement reforms The Insolvency Service has opened a consultation on corporate civil enforcement reforms, seeking feedback on 11 proposals to update the director disqualification and company winding-up framework. Headline reforms comprise mandatory disqualification where public interest winding-up orders are made, creation of a new director restrictions regime for less serious misconduct, and moving disqualification decision-making from the courts to the Secretary of State, with a...

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...

This glossary sets out numerous expressions regularly encountered in the restructuring & insolvency sphere. Words shown in bold within definitions are themselves explained in other entries in this glossary as well. A Article X The MLIJ contains a single provision named Article X, aimed at jurisdictions that have already implemented the MLCBI, like England, or are weighing its adoption. Article X states: ‘Not withstanding any prior interpretation to the contrary, the relief available under [insert a cross-reference to the legislation of this State enacting Article 21 of the UNCITRAL Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency] includes recognition and enforcement of a judgment’ (see Practice Note: UNCITRAL model law on recognition and enforcement of insolvency-related judgments (MLIJ): Article X). Asset-backed security (ABS) A form of security anchored by asset pools, for example loans, leases, and credit card receivables. Assimilated law From 1 January 2024, ‘retained law’ has been retitled ‘assimilated law’. The body of domestic law originally arising from EU obligations, created by the European...

under section 432 of the Companies Act 1985 The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) oversees companies to safeguard investors, suppliers and customers against corporate wrongdoing. Where the conditions set out in section 432 of the Companies Act 1985 (CA 1985) arise, the Secretary of State (SoS) can appoint inspectors to examine a company’s affairs. The Insolvency Service’s Legal Services Directorate (LSD) serves as the principal criminal enforcement authority for insolvency-related fraud and corporate misconduct. The investigatory powers provided by the CA 1985 can also be applied to overseas companies doing business in the UK...