header-logo header-logo

Directors’ duties: companies on the edge?

09 December 2022 / Mary Young , Adam Deacock
Issue: 8006 / Categories: Features , Commercial , Insolvency , Company
printer mail-detail
103995
The duties of directors in financially precarious companies: Mary Young & Adam Deacock examine the Supreme Court’s judgment in BTI v Sequana
  • Despite its billing as ‘momentous’, the Supreme Court’s judgment in BTI v Sequana is unlikely to alter the actions of a prudent director managing a company in an uncertain financial position.

Many column inches have been spent discussing the Supreme Court decision in BTI 2014 LLC v Sequana SA and others [2022] UKSC 25, [2022] All ER (D) 11 (Oct). One of the Supreme Court judges herself described it as ‘momentous’. Does the judgment in fact go beyond the status quo or offer any clarity or assistance for directors managing a company whose financial health is uncertain, or for insolvency practitioners looking for possible recoveries from directors?

Background to the case

AWA was the wholly owned subsidiary of Sequana SA (‘Sequana’). AWA had stopped trading and was subject to contingent indemnity liabilities in respect of clean-up costs and damages claims arising

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

DWF—Ed Williams

DWF—Ed Williams

Public sector disputes capability bolstered by partner hire in Leeds

Blake Morgan—Scott Hilton, Joan Yu & Melia Hirst

Blake Morgan—Scott Hilton, Joan Yu & Melia Hirst

Firm strengthens corporate, real estate and insolvency teams with partner trio

Seddons GSC—David Seal & Emma Clifford

Seddons GSC—David Seal & Emma Clifford

Consultant and solicitor join commercial real estate team

NEWS
Legal advice to people detained in police stations could be delivered by video link, Sir Brian Leveson has said, in part two of his Independent Review of the Criminal Courts
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has urged the government to move towards a less adversarial system of clinical negligence, after the total cost to the NHS quadrupled within 20 years to an eye-watering £60bn
Peers have warned impending legislation could put executors at financial risk when their loved ones die
Legal IT supplier InfoTrack has launched a conveyancing tool that speeds up the pre-contract enquiries stage by allowing both sides to collaborate in one shared workspace
Barristers met with 19 of their local MPs at ten Crown Courts in all six circuits last week, as part of a Bar Council and Criminal Bar Association initiative to defend juries and explain the factors behind the backlog of nearly 80,000 cases
back-to-top-scroll