Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Bounce Back Loan scheme misuse warrants nine-year director disqualification under CDDA 1986 s 6: Secretary of State v Ahmedivand [2025] (England and Wales)

Published on: 27 February 2025

Published by a LexisNexis Restructuring & Insolvency expert

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Article summary

The Secretary of State for Business and Trade v Ahmedivand [2025] EWHC 98 (Ch) What are the practical implications of this case?

This decision underscores the weight the court places on misuse of the BBL scheme when assessing applications to disqualify directors in such cases, and it treats that conduct with particular seriousness. The court’s stance is uncompromising: conduct of this nature, taken on its own, can justify a finding of unfitness, and the fact that the alleged misconduct concerns a scheme that has already closed does not dilute that assessment.

Misuse of the scheme alone can ground unfitness to act as a director.
The absence of any ongoing scheme, and thus no real chance of repetition, is not a mitigating factor.

In arriving at this view, the court referenced prior authority, notably Re DEEA Construct Ltd [2023] EWHC 2084 (Ch). In that case, Chief Insolvency and Companies Court (ICC) Judge Briggs concluded that the director fell beneath the standards of probity and competence expected of those fit to be company directors where the turnover stated on the BBL application was inflated, and where the loan obtained under the scheme was not applied for the purpose for which it had been made...

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