A foreign judgment cannot be used as the basis for a bankruptcy petition in England and Wales unless it has already been recognised by an English court. This has overturned the High Court’s decision, which had reached the opposite conclusion. This case concerns an appeal of the case of Drelle v Servis-Terminal LLC [2024], which … Read more
Where purchasers make an express declaration of trust, that declaration will be conclusive “unless varied by subsequent agreement” or affected by proprietary estoppel. In the benchmark case of Stack v Dowden [2007] UKHL 17, Baroness Hale famously said that an express declaration of trust is conclusive unless varied by “subsequent agreement” or affected by proprietary estoppel. But … Read more
Assets of a bankrupt which have been acquired by a third party may still be after-acquired property. If such assets were beneficially owned by the bankrupt, they would in such case have become vested in the trustee in bankruptcy. Not only do a trustee in bankruptcy’s investigatory role and powers relate to assets which were … Read more
This case is an unfortunate reminder of the fate in bankruptcy of an extremely well-known professional tennis player; yet he, as a bankrupt, was ultimately able to convince the court that his compliance with his Trustees in Bankruptcy was consistent with the obligations imposed by the Insolvency Act 1986, and sufficient for his suspension to … Read more
A judgment obtained for two billion Rubles in a Russian court was not eligible for registration under the Foreign Judgments (Reciprocal Enforcement) Act 1933, and no separate proceedings were taken in the English courts seeking an English judgment. Could the judgment still be a debt which satisfied the grounds of a bankruptcy petition in an … Read more
A very unusual case, in which the Court of Appeal overturns a High Court decision which allowed a bankrupt to apply to suspend his own bankruptcy. The bankrupt wished to apply to suspend his own discharge from bankruptcy urgently, as the anniversary of his Bankruptcy Order was only days away. He wanted to propose an IVA … Read more
In a case where there is a dissatisfied bankrupt, the Supreme Court has limited the circumstances in which such a person will have standing to challenge a Trustee in Bankruptcy’s decisions and actions under s.303(1) Insolvency Act 1986 to those in which there is, or is likely to be, a surplus in the bankruptcy estate … Read more
Where the court finds that a bankruptcy order should not have been made, an order of annulment is not inevitable This case was a second appeal, in which the Court of Appeal upheld the decisions of two lower courts. In exercising its discretion, it concluded that as a result of the bankrupt’s conduct and his … Read more
