Insolvency Law

Insolvency Law 1.

Introduction The process of liquidating or winding up a company is a critical element of company law.

When a particular company undergoes the process of winding up successfully, then it ceases to exist. Additionally, its obligations – at least as a juridical person that has been constituted according to the law – cease. For this reason, the winding up of a company is understood as a way to ensure that a particular entity does not continue to suffer losses. Furthermore, this process also devises mechanisms of guaranteeing that the various rights that a company’s stakeholder has will be addressed. Even so, although it is possible for the owners and directors of a particular company to set in motion the process of liquidating a company, in other cases, the winding up process is not embraced either by the shareholders or stakeholders of the company. It is within this context that Company Voluntary Arrangements become relevant.

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A Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) can be described as a legally binding agreement into which a financially struggling company enters with certain entities to whom it owes debts. In entering into this agreement, the company’s creditors agree to that certain amount of the existing debt will be paid to the creditors over a given period of time.1 Under UK law, if 75% of a company’s creditors agree to the proposal, the company will continue trading. It is in this manner that the company can therefore be rescued.

The fact that CVAs can rescue an insolvent company or about to go insolvent has made it valuable for companies. By way of the CVA, a company can continue with its normal trading operations while also allowing creditors to have a chance at recovering their debts.2 In this way, CVAs have been seen as offering a viable alternative to insolvency. This paper will examine how CVAs have value in rescuing businesses in the UK. In doing so, it will begin with a brief overview of CVAs. This introductory section will then be followed by a critical assessment of CVAs' value before providing recommendations of how to increase the value of CVAs within the context of UK corporate law.

2.

A Brief Background of CVAs in the UK As has been intimated in the introductory section, a CVA is a process that is intended to

help or rescue a company that is undergoing financial difficulties. The Insolvency Act introduced CVAs in the UK.3 They were a development of the Cork Committee. This committee had found that it was necessary to develop a simple procedure where “the will of the majority of creditors in agreeing to a debt arrangement could be made binding on an unwilling majority.”4 Even so, in 1

Vanessa Finch & David Milman, Corporate insolvency law: perspectives and principles. (Cambridge University Press 2017).

2 HJ Nsubuga, Employee rights in corporate insolvency: a UK and US perspective. (Routledge 2019).

3 1986.

4 Cork Committee, Insolvency Law and Practice (Cmnd 8558 1982) Chapter 7.

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spite of the flexibility that CVAs offer companies as a restructuring tool, their use has been reasonably low compared to other alternatives.5 Two principal reasons are usually given for this low uptake of CVAs in the UK corporate landscape. The first is that the CVA procedure cannot cram down secured creditors who are unwilling to participate in the CVA process.6 Secondly, for many companies, the procedure does not benefit a moratorium on creditor action pending the proposal's approval to adopt a CVA. In recent times, however, there has been an increased uptake of CVAs as an alternative to liquidation.

3.

An Overview of the Operation of CVAs in the UK Payne’s work offers a useful examination of the different situations that would

necessitate the use of a CVA.7 A company does not necessarily have to be insolvent for it to adopt a CVA. Indeed, waiting until a company is insolvent may be placing the company’s interests at a risk. In some cases, the risk of insolvency may suffice to begin the process of adopting a CVA. Generally, the main value of a CVA is to allow a company to enter into an arrangement with its creditors that will see the company satisfy some or all of its debts and obligations. In the history of UK corporate law, CVAs have been especially useful in restructuring leases for underperforming properties, the operation of unsecured bonds, and the restructuring of unsecured guarantee liabilities.8 The statutory provision for the operation of CVAs is outlined in Part I of the Insolvency Act9 and the Insolvency (England and Wales) Rules.10 It is worth noting that under the Act, even 5

Peter Walton, Christopher Umfreville, & Lezelle Jacobs, ‘A snapshot of company voluntary arrangements: Success, failure and proposals for reform. (2020). 29 International Insolvency Review, 2, 267-284.

6 Gerard McCormack., Keay Andrew, & Brown Sarah. European insolvency law: reform and harmonization.

(Edward Elgar Publishing 2017).

7 Jennifer Payne, ‘Debt Restructuring in the UK.’ (2018) 15 European Company and Financial Law Review, 3, 449471.

8 Peter Walton, Christopher Umfreville, & Lezelle Jacobs, ‘A snapshot of company voluntary arrangements: Success, failure and proposals for reform. (2020). 29 International Insolvency Review, 2, 267-284.

9 1986.

10 2016.

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though an insolvency practitioner is responsible for the implementation of the CVA, the management of the company will remain in place as long the CVA exists. Effectively, then, the company is allowed to operate as usual. Setting a CVA in motion begins either with the directors of the company, an administrator in the case that the company is undergoing administration or a liquidator in the situation where a company is undergoing liquidation. Creditors and shareholders of the company usually do not have the necessary standing to propose a CVA adoption.

The directors of a company who proposes a CVA have to approach an insolvency practitioner whose role will be to act as the nominee. Here, the role of the nominee will be to provide their professional opinion regarding its merits. The nominee plays a vital role in the process. The Insolvency Rules11 provide once the nominee in question has confirmed that there is a high likelihood that the proposal will be adopted by the relevant parties, they will proceed to file an opinion at court. Furthermore, the said proposal will be presented to the company’s shareholders and creditors.

To be allowed to operate, a CVA will require the approval of the majority of the company’s creditors and shareholders. When it comes to creditors, a minimum of 75% of the creditors will have to vote to adopt the proposal. When it comes to shareholders, more than half of those shareholders – will have to approve the proposal. The approval process should take place at a meeting that has been constituted properly. The CVA can only become effective if both creditors and shareholders have approved it. Typically, where it is clear that there is a difference of decision between the creditors and shareholders, then it is the creditors' decision that will prevail.12

Insolvency Rules 2016, r.2.9(2).

Adam Gallagher, Katharina Crinson, & Jack Shepherd, ‘The Resurgence of the Company Voluntary Arrangement’ (2018) 37 American Bankruptcy Institute Journal 4, 32-93.

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After the approval of the CVA, all the unsecured creditors of the company will be bound.

It will not be relevant whether they had voted for adopting the proposal to put a CVA into operation.13 However, it is essential to note that if any secured creditors did not provide their consent, then they will not be bound by the CVA in question. Furthermore, if any of the creditors are of the opinion that the CVA’s terms are going to subject them to some form of prejudice, then they can make an application to the court. They can also make an application to the court if they believe that the CVA has some material irregularity.

In the case of Mourant & Co Trustees Ltd v Sixty UK Ltd (in administration), 14 there was a challenge levelled against a CVA because the said CVA had unfairly prejudiced the interests of the creditors. The creditors argued that the compensation that had been offered to them was inadequate. Furthermore, they argued that they had been compulsorily denied their guarantees. There was also the argument that the creditors had been unfairly treated in comparison to the other creditors. In this matter, the court agreed with the landlords and directed that the CVA in question be set aside.

Equally, in the case of Prudential Assurance Co Ltd v PRG Powerhouse Ltd,15 a CVA that contained terms that released guarantees that the defendant’s parent company had given to the creditors was seen to unfairly prejudice the creditors within the meaning of Section 6(1)(a) of the Insolvency Act.16 Just like in the Mourant case, the court held that even though the stripping of existing guarantees was permissible by law, the debtor company in question had not assigned the appropriate value to the guarantees from which the defendants benefitted. As such, the action was seen to be unfairly prejudicial.

Ibid.

[2010] EWHC 1890 (Ch).

15 [2007] EWHC 1002 (Ch).

16 1986.

13

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As soon as the CVA’s terms have undergone approval, the CVA will be effective. The nominee will then be responsible for the CVA’s supervision. In their role as supervisors, nominees are bound by the provisions of the Insolvency Rules. Insolvency practitioners are enjoined to differentiate clearly between the various stages of a CVA and the different roles they have to play concerning the said stages. Some of the roles that insolvency practitioners are supposed to carry out include providing the initial advice regarding the adoption of the CVA, providing assistance in the process of preparing the final proposal, being the official nominee as chosen by the company representatives, and taking on the duties of a supervisor once the creditors and shareholders have approved the CVA. The CVA’s terms will be approached as if the CVA were any other commercial contract with rights and obligations to each of the agreement’s parties.17 In addition to this, whenever the CVA’s terms are not carried out as they are supposed, the parts of the CVA with respect to its termination will come into effect. Usually, a CVA that is terminated will mean that the company in question undergoes an insolvency procedure.

4.

The Value in the Use of CVAs in Rescuing Businesses in the UK The sections above have been crucial in examining the ways in which CVAs operate in

the UK context. They have also shown the importance of CVAs in ensuring corporate longevity.

Furthermore, it helps one gain insight into the legal and regulatory framework that governs CVAs' adoption. In the following section, there will be a critical assessment of the advantages and disadvantages of using a CVA as a way of determining their ultimate usefulness in rescuing UK businesses.

4.1

The Advantages of using CVAs as a Method of Rescuing Businesses

17

Parkinson Marjan, ‘Financial Distress, Insolvency and Business Rescue.’ In Corporate Governance in Transition (pp. 43-64). (Palgrave Macmillan 2018).

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a)

Directors Remain in the Control of the Company In some of the alternative methods typically adopted in the restructuring of companies,

reworking a company’s affairs may mean that its leadership no longer has the authority to run its affairs. If the company requires specific leadership, the particular change in leadership may actually limit the extent to which it can recover successfully. Therefore, one of the values that CVAs have concerns the directors. When a company adopts a CVA, there is the possibility that the directors will be in control of the company.18 Avoiding the change in status quo in so far as directors is concerned means that the company will be able to carry out any long-term strategies that they had initially put in place before the company began facing financial difficulties.

Furthermore, in some cases, certain directors who have been in the company for an extended period are likely to understand how best to navigate the difficult situations in which the company finds itself.

There is enough literature to suggest that a change in a company's operational style is usually needed whenever a CVA is under the proposal.19 One can also acknowledge that ensuring that the company's control remains under some director's control could ultimately be beneficial to the company. When new leadership is brought into the business, there is a possibility that they may not have the inside knowledge of the particular company in a way that can be coupled with professional guidance to allow the company to make a turnaround. It is also worth noting that under the Insolvency Act, a director can continue to exercise leadership of the company because, when a company adopts a CVA, that means that it is not going through the formal process of liquidation.

18

Georg Wabl, ‘To File, or Not to File: That Is the Question. Directors’ Duties in the Company Crisis’ (2019) 40 Business Law Review, 2.

19 Aydin Ozkan Aydin, Poletti-Hughes Jannine & Trzeciakiewicz Agnieszka, ‘Directors’ share dealings and corporate insolvencies: evidence from the UK’ (2017) 23 The European Journal of Finance, 5, 427-455.

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The question of corporate rescue is relevant to directors' role in a company that is not only facing financial difficulties but also considering the adoption of a CVA. In many cases, adopting a CVA will ultimately mean that there will be the performance of major surgery to ensure that even though the surviving company remains alive, many aspects about it will be different.20 Equally, it is noteworthy that the term ‘corporate rescue’ may be somewhat misleading when it comes to the use of CVAs for two reasons. When a company adopts a CVA, one of the possibilities is that it will be rescued completely. This means that the CVA will work in the company’s favour and, as a result of its adoption, the company will be able to continue its regular trading activities. Secondly, the adoption of the CVA could lead to the preservation of a distressed company's business value to offer a better return to its creditors as opposed to liquidation.21 Therefore, ultimately, it is not necessarily the company that could be rescued by a CVA. Its creditors could also benefit from the adoption of a CVA. b)

The Staying of Legal Action by Creditors The staying of legal action by creditors means that once the creditors and shareholders

have approved the terms of the CVA of a company, then once cannot initiate a winding-up petition against the company.22 This staying of all actions against the company by its creditors is essential to its continued success. It means that the company gets more time to ensure that it can continue trading even as it devises meeting its obligations. Additionally, in the case, that bank accounts will be seen to have been frozen on account of a winding-up petition that had been initiated. The company will be at liberty to obtain a validation order that will allow its accounts

Andrew Campbell, ‘Company Rescue: The Legal Response to the Potential Rescue of Insolvent Companies’ (1995) 5(1) ICCLR 16, 16.

21 Rebecca Parry, Corporate Rescue (Sweet & Maxwell 2013), 139.

22 Anthony Philpott,2 ‘Staying the Court Enforcement of a UK Construction Adjudication on the Grounds of Fraud, Where There Are Company Voluntary Arrangements or Where There Is Insolvency.’ (2019) 12 Int'l. In-House Counsel Journal 1.

20

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to be opened to return to its normal trading activities.23 Even though the effect of a CVA is to stay legal action by creditors, it is worth mentioning that any creditors who feel aggrieved by the terms of the CVA usually have 28 days to challenge the CVA. They can lodge this challenge either by maintaining that they were prejudiced or by stating that there has been some material irregularity concerning the decision procedure of the members or creditors.

The staying of legal action by creditors is important because constant demands for payment from creditors may be distracting to the company's leadership.24 By staying action, the company gets time to restructure itself and to begin putting in place the measures that will allow it to navigate its difficult financial situation. The CVA also makes it possible for interest charges to be frozen, resulting in a more manageable debt load. An additional benefit is that, once the CVA has been approved and accepted by the creditors, they will also be prevented from threatening to take legal action as long as all the CVA terms will be met.25 c)

The Protection of Directors from Investigation As demonstrated in the sections above, adopting a CVA is beneficial because it allows a

company to avoid mandatory liquidation. If the liquidation process were to be initiated through the use of a winding up petition, the directors' conduct concerning the company's management would be investigated. Furthermore, it would be possible for the leadership of the company in question to be accused of wrongful trading or other improper practices. By finding a way to avoid these investigations, the board of directors will therefore be able to place all of their efforts towards the company.26 23

Alessandro Merendino & Melville Rob, ‘The board of directors and firm performance: empirical evidence from listed companies.’ (2019). Corporate Governance: The international journal of business in society.

24

Parry Rebecca, ‘An assessment of UK insolvency laws in the light of new ways of working in the era of Covid19.’ (2020) International Corporate Rescue.

25 Davies Paul, Introduction to company law. (Oxford University Press 2020).

26 Brenda Hannigan, Company law. (Oxford University Press, 2018).

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In adopting a CVA, there is also the possibility that if the current accounts of directors are overdrawn, then repayments will be able to be made over a certain period. This flexibility concerning repayments could mean that either individual directors or the entire board of directors can evade the pressure that comes with having to pay back what is owed to the company. Doing away with this pressure then means that they will pay attention to turning the company around.27 4.2

The Disadvantages of using CVAs as a Method of Rescuing Businesses

a)

Secured Creditors Not Bound by the CVA without their Consent

Even though the adoption of a CVA means that the company effectively enters into an arrangement to restructure its debts towards its creditors, secured creditors – such as banks – are not usually bound by its terms. In the typical case, a secured creditor can be said to be a bank or any other lender that holds either a fixed or floating charge over a particular business or entity's assets. If the said business becomes insolvent, then the secured creditor (in this case, a bank) will be entitled to have the specific asset over which the said security is held to be sold so that the creditor can get repayment. The priority that category of the creditor has means that, even where the terms of the CVA are being adhered to, secured creditors will institute suits against the company in question. Before introducing CVAs that included moratoriums, the general rule concerning insolvency was that if a secured creditor such as a bank held security in the form of a floating charge, the bank would be at liberty to ignore the CVA and appoint its administrator.

In this way, the company's future would be governed by the entity appointed by the bank to take charge of the administration process. The possibility of a bank taking this approach was informed that the bank is a secured creditor. Therefore, this state of circumstances risked complicating the extent to which a CVA could be of value when it came to rescuing businesses.

However, after the rules came into effect, the new legal dispensation provides that a secured 27

Ibid.

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creditor who has a debenture with respect to the company will be unable to appoint a receiver once the company has already filed the CVA in court.

b)

A CVA’s Failure will lead to Court Action

When the terms of the contract are not carried out as they are supposed to, the company in question risks facing court action. Fundamentally, a CVA is a contractual document that binds every person that accepts its terms and executes it.28 Therefore, not fulfilling the CVA’s terms will be said to be a breach of the contractual terms. For this reason, it is crucial to ensure that, before the CVA is executed, the terms of the agreement are feasible and that they will enable the company to be sustainable even after the obligations have been met.29 The increased move to court by people who feel aggrieved by the terms of CVA is notable. In particular, landlords in the UK have been critical about what they perceive to be a misuse of the CVA process. These creditors raise concerns that some companies are adopting the CVA procedure to avoid liabilities that result from leases.

The case of Discovery (Northampton) Ltd v Debenhams Retail Ltd30 demonstrates the extent to which landlords have begun lodging resistance to the adoption and the implementation of CVAs. In May 2019, the required majority of Debenhams Retail Ltd creditors voted to adopt a CVA. Under this agreement, other creditors were going to be paid in full, but landlords and rating authorities' rights would be affected. Subsequently, six landlord creditors who had not voted in favour of the CVA instituted a claim based on five grounds.

28

Tsvetan Petrov, ‘Harmonising Restructuring Law in Europe: A Comparative Analysis of the Legislative Impact of the Proposed Restructuring Directive on Insolvency Law in the UK and Germany’ (2017) 3 Anglo-Ger. LJ, 129.

29 Ibid.

30 [2019] EWHC 2303 (Ch).

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The first ground was that the landlords were not “creditors for future rent” within the scope contemplated under Part 1 of the Insolvency Act. As such, they were of the opinion that the CVA went beyond its mandate in so far as binding the landlords was concerned. The second ground is a CVA cannot operate to reduce rent that is payable under the leases as this would amount to unfair prejudice.31 The third ground was that, in removing any right that a landlord had to forfeit, which would arise due to the CVA, the agreement had effectively altered the landlord’s proprietary rights. The fourth ground was that, compared to the other unsecured creditors, the landlords had been treated in a less favourable manner. The fifth and final ground that they raised was that the manner in which the CVA was structured failed to adhere to the requirements of the Insolvency Rules.

In deciding the matter, the High Court upheld one of the grounds and dismissed the other grounds. In its analysis of the elements that would constitute material irregularity, the court offered a test for materiality. In its opinion, material irregularity could only be said to have occurred if it could be proven that the landlords would not have accepted the terms of the CVA had the said they had the relevant material information. In other words, if the landlords would have still accepted the terms of the CVA in spite of what had not been revealed to them, then the test would fail. The court's decision concerning material irregularity can be compared to the decision in the case of Re Trident Fashions.32 In that case, the court held that it was not necessary for there to be more than a 50% chance of a different outcome for one to claim material irregularity. By contrast, the right test for materiality is whether there was a substantial chance that the creditors may not have approved the CVA in the form in which it was present had they been privy to other information.

31 32

Sarah Paterson, Corporate reorganization law and forces of change. (Oxford University Press 2020).

[2004] 2 BCLC 35.

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5.

Recommendations on Increasing the Value of CVAs in UK Insolvency Law As the sections above have demonstrated, the main purpose of using a CVA is to provide

struggling companies a mechanism that they can use to navigate their financial difficulties.

However, even though CVAs continue to help companies, their low uptake, combined with the fact that they can be misused, limits the extent to which they can be valuable in rescuing UK businesses. In May 2016, the UK government launched the Review of the Corporate Insolvency Framework: A consultation on options for reform.33 The aim of this report was to seek views on four proposed areas for reform.34 First, there was the suggestion to create a new moratorium period for the companies that were still viable even as they underwent financial difficulties.

Usually, a moratorium period allows any entity who had been a beneficiary of a particular loan not to make any payments with respect to the said loan. Therefore, during this period, any person who has a claim against the company would not be able either to institute an action against the company or to threaten to institute an action. In this way, the company that is facing financial difficulties would be able to use this moratorium period to focus on building the company’s financial strength.

The second identified area of reform concerned companies’ essential suppliers. The suggestion was to have provisions in the legal and regulatory infrastructure that would require essential suppliers to continue supplying companies that were facing financial difficulties and not rely on the termination clauses in their contracts.35 In this way, the company would be able to continue with its normal trading operations even as it restructures itself in order to eb able to meet its obligations. The third suggestion offered by the committee was to create a new 2016.

Sofia Ellina, ‘Administration and CVA in Corporate Insolvency Law: Pursuing the optimum outcome’ (2019) 30 International Company and Commercial Law Review, 3, 180-191.

35 Graham Lane & Alexander Roy, ‘Shaking Things up: UK Government's Proposals for New Corporate Insolvency Toolkit’ (2017) 13 Pratt's J. Bankr. L. 91.

33

34

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restructuring plan that would take into account the company’s financial position in relation to its creditors. In this new restructuring plan, there would be a devising of strategies aimed at cramming down dissenting creditors. Finally, there would be the introduction and implementation of measures aimed at encouraging rescue finance from different entities. Under this arrangement, specific amounts of money would be availed to companies in insolvency procedures to assist them in their survival. In this way, a company facing financial difficulties would be able to navigate the difficult period while also meeting its obligations to its creditors.

6.

Conclusion The framework proposed by the government and the ends to which CVAs have been put

show that the CVA is a flexible tool that takes various forms and has many aims. Also, the outcomes that flow from CVAs are varied, demonstrating that they have a real potential of rescuing companies when they are used well. To increase the value that CVAs in the UK currently have, several strategies could be used. First, CVAs should not be allowed to last longer than a particular set period. Limiting the time of a CVA will ensure that the directors in charge of a company will always focus on adopting strategies to improve a company’s financial situation.

Secondly, instead of giving directors complete liberty to control the company, there should be a clear articulation of their duties so that they will be able to address financial distress early in the future. Relatedly, supervisors and nominees' roles and duties at every stage of the process should be elucidated. In this way, there will be a smooth supervision process that does not jeopardize the company's future. Finally, in line with the reform areas suggested by the UK government, there should be more sensitization to ensure that more companies that face financial distress can avoid insolvency not only by making early applications for CVAs but also by taking advantage of the moratorium that the new legal and regulatory environment makes available.

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Bibliography Primary Sources Case Law Discovery (Northampton) Ltd v Debenhams Retail Ltd [2019] EWHC 2303 (Ch) Mourant & Co Trustees Ltd v Sixty UK Ltd (in administration) [2010] EWHC 1890 (Ch) Prudential Assurance Co Ltd v PRG Powerhouse Ltd [2007] EWHC 1002 (Ch) Re Trident Fashions (No 2) [2004] 2 BCLC 35 Statutes Insolvency Act 1986.

Insolvency Rules 2016.

Reports Cork Committee, Insolvency Law and Practice 1982.

Review of the Corporate Insolvency Framework: A consultation on options for reform, 2016 Secondary Sources Campbell, A, ‘Company Rescue: The Legal Response to the Potential Rescue of Insolvent Companies’ (1995) 5(1) ICCLR 16, 16.

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Ellina, S, ‘Administration and CVA in Corporate Insolvency Law: Pursuing the optimum outcome’ (2019) 30 International Company and Commercial Law Review 3, 180-191.

Finch, V., & Milman, D, Corporate insolvency law: perspectives and principles. (Cambridge University Press 2017) Gallagher, A., Crinson, K., & Shepherd, J, ‘The Resurgence of the Company Voluntary Arrangement.’ (2018) 37 American Bankruptcy Institute Journal 4, 32-93.

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Hannigan, B. (2018). Company law. (Oxford University Press USA).

Lane, G., & Roy, A, ‘Shaking Things up: UK Government's Proposals for New Corporate Insolvency Toolkit’ (2017) 13 Pratt's J. Bankr. L., 91.

McCormack, G., Keay, A., & Brown, S. European insolvency law: reform and harmonization.

(Edward Elgar Publishing 2017).

Merendino, A., & Melville, R, ‘The board of directors and firm performance: empirical evidence from listed companies.’ (2019) Corporate Governance: The international journal of business in society.

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Parkinson, M, ‘Financial Distress, Insolvency and Business Rescue.’ In Corporate Governance in Transition (pp. 43-64). Palgrave Macmillan, 2018).

Parry, R, ‘An assessment of UK insolvency laws in the light of new ways of working in the era of Covid-19.’ (2020) International Corporate Rescue.

Parry, R, Corporate Rescue (Sweet & Maxwell 2013), 139.

Paterson, S. Corporate reorganization law and forces of change. (Oxford University Press 2020).

Payne, J, ‘Debt Restructuring in the UK’ (2018) 15 European Company and Financial Law Review 3, 449-471.

16

Petrov, T, ‘Harmonising Restructuring Law in Europe: A Comparative Analysis of the Legislative Impact of the Proposed Restructuring Directive on Insolvency Law in the UK and Germany’ (2017) 3 Anglo-Ger. LJ, 129.

Philpott, A, ‘Staying the Court Enforcement of a UK Construction Adjudication on the Grounds of Fraud, Where There Are Company Voluntary Arrangements or Where There Is Insolvency’ (2019) 12 Int'l. In-House Counsel J 1.

Wabl, G., ‘To File, or Not to File: That Is the Question. Directors’ Duties in the Company Crisis’ (2019) Business Law Review, 40(2).

Walton, P., Umfreville, C., & Jacobs, L. (2020), ‘A snapshot of company voluntary arrangements: Success, failure and proposals for reform” (2020) International Insolvency Review, 29, 267-284.

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