Corporate Insolvency Services

What is liquidation?

Liquidation is a legal process in which a liquidator is appointed to ‘wind up’ the affairs of a limited company. At the end of the process, the company ceases to exist. The purpose of liquidation is to ensure that all the company’s affairs have been dealt with properly. This involves:

  • Ensuring all company contracts (including employee contracts) are completed, transferred or otherwise brought to an end.
  • Ceasing the company’s business.
  • Settling any legal disputes.
  • Selling any assets.
  • Collecting in money owed to the company.
  • Distributing any funds to creditors and returning share capital to the shareholders (any surplus after repayment of all debts and share capital can be distributed to shareholders.

When this has been done, the liquidator will apply to have the company removed from the register at Companies House and dissolved, which means it ceases to exist.

 

What types of liquidation are there?

  • Members’ voluntary liquidation (or members voluntary winding-up) – this is when the shareholders of a company decide to put it into liquidation and there are enough assets to pay all the debts of the company, i.e. the company is solvent.
  • Creditors’ voluntary liquidation (or creditors’ voluntary winding up) – this is when the shareholders of a company decide to put the company into liquidation, but there are not enough assets to pay all the creditors, i.e. the company is insolvent.
  • Compulsory liquidation (or compulsory winding-up) – this is when the court makes an order for the company to be wound up (a ‘winding up order’) on the petition of an appropriate person. If there is more than one director, all the directors must jointly present the winding-up petition – a single director cannot present a winding-up petition.

If you are a director or a shareholder and you are also a creditor of your company, you may wish to present a winding-up petition on the grounds that the company cannot pay its debts.

What are the alternatives to liquidation?

  • Informal arrangement – the company could consider writing to all its creditors to see of a mutually acceptable agreement can be reached. It is advisable to include a timetable of when payments will be made.
  • Company voluntary arrangement (CVA) – this is a formal version of the arrangement described above. The directors would need to apply to the court with the help of an authorised insolvency practitioner, who would supervise the arrangement and pay the creditors in line with the accepted proposals.
  • Administration – this is a procedure that gives the company some breathing space from any action by creditors. A company may enter administration to enable:
    1. The company to survive as a going concern.
    2. A better result to be achieved in an immediate winding up.
    3. Realisation of property for the benefit of secured or preferential creditors.

The procedure is managed by an administrator, who must be an authorised insolvency practitioner and who may be appointed by the court, a floating charge holder or the company or its directors.

What happens when a company goes into liquidation?

The liquidator takes control of the company’s affairs and almost all powers of the directors cease. The liquidator disposes of all the company’s assets and, after paying the costs and expenses of the liquidation, distributes any remaining money to the creditors.

In a members’ voluntary liquidation, the liquidator must hold a meeting of the company each year and provide details of his or her actions and dealings, also the conduct of the winding up in the preceding year.

In a creditors’ voluntary liquidation, the liquidator hold annual creditors’ meetings for the same purpose. He also has a duty to make a report to the Secretary of State, under the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986, regarding the conduct of the company’s director.

As soon as the affairs of the company are fully wound up, the liquidator will hold final meetings of the company and its creditors.

What are the directors’ duties in a voluntary liquidation?

In voluntary liquidation proceedings, the company’s directors must:

  • Provide information about the company’s affairs to the liquidator and attend interviews with the liquidator as and when reasonably required.
  • Look after and hand over the company’s assets to the liquidator, together with all its books, records, bank statements, insurance policies and other papers relating to its assets and liabilities.

What happens to the companies debts?

The creditors lodge claims with the liquidator and will look to the liquidator for payment out of the company’s assets. If there are insufficient assets to pay the creditors in full, the director or shareholder is not normally liable for any shortfall unless he or she has provided a personal guarantee to the creditor. In short, the debt is written off.

Who pays for the liquidation and how much does it cost?

The costs of liquidating a company are normally paid out of the company’s assets. The costs include disbursements, i.e. money the liquidator has to pay out for advertising, insurance etc, and the liquidators own costs (remuneration) which are normally paid on a ‘time costs’ basis. In the event that there are insufficient assets to pay the costs the company will normally go into compulsory liquidation through the court process or in certain cases the director and/or shareholder can fund them personally.

When will the voluntary liquidation end?

Liquidation ends when the company is dissolved after the final meeting held by the liquidator. How long the liquidation takes will depend on the circumstances of the individual case (e.g., the nature of the assets involved), but once the process has been completed the company will be dissolved and cease to exist.

Who can put a company into compulsory liquidation?

A petition for the winding up of a company is usually presented to court by a creditor. Less frequently, the company itself, its directors or a shareholder may petition, as (in some circumstances) may an administrative receiver, an administrator, a supervisor of a voluntary arrangement, the Government, the Financial Services Authority, the clerk of a magistrates’ court, the Official Receiver or a member State Liquidator.

A winding-up petition can still be presented even if a company is already in administrative receivership or voluntary liquidation.

In what circumstances can a winding-up order be made?

A winding-up order can be made if:

  • The court decides a company should be wound up.
  • A company was registered as a public limited company more than a year previously but has not yet been issued with a trading certificate.
  • The company is an ‘old’ public company
  • The company has not begun trading within a year of its incorporation or has suspended its trading for a whole year.
  • A company has less than two shareholders, unless it is a private company limited by shares or guarantee.
  • The company cannot pay its debts.
  • The court forms the opinion that it would be just and equitable to wind up a company.

In which Court should a winding-up petition be presented?

The winding-up petition should be presented in the High Court, District Registry or county court that deals with insolvency matters and covers the area where the company’s trading address or registered office is situated.

What is the procedure for presenting a winding-up petition?

To ensure that all legal requirements are met, it is usual to instruct a solicitor to deal with issuing a winding-up petition. To present a winding-up petition, you cannot just complete the petition and present it to the court. If there are legal proceedings, this can result in costs being awarded against either party. For example, costs could be awarded against a person presenting a winding-up petition if the court believes that the winding-up procedure has been used in inappropriate circumstances where the debt is clearly defended.

Insolvency law requires that before the court can hear the petition, statements of truth must be lodged at court verifying the winding-up petition. The petition must usually be served on the company at its registered office. An affidavit of service of the petition must be filed at court and the petition must be advertised in the London Gazette at lease 7 days after the petition is served on the company and at lease 7 days before the hearing. Further statements of truth may be required if, for example, you wish to withdraw the petition.

What are the costs of putting a company into compulsory liquidation?

  • Petition deposit of £2,600 towards the costs of administration of the liquidation.
  • A court fee of £302.
  • The costs involved in advertising the petition in the London Gazette, using a process server for the service of a statutory demand.
  • Any costs for instructing a solicitor.

What happens after a company goes into compulsory liquidation?

Usually, the Official Receiver (who is both a civil servant in The Insolvency Service and an officer of the court) will be appointed liquidator of the company on the making of a winding-up order. The Official Receiver has a duty:

  • As official receiver
    1. To ensure that notice of the winding-up order is advertised in the Gazette and in a local newspaper.
    2. To investigate the affairs of the company and to establish the cause of its failure (by obtaining information from the directors of the company and from third parties, such as the company’s bankers, accountants and solicitors).
  • As liquidator
    1. To collect and realise all assets and pay all creditors.

The Official Receiver may call a meeting of creditors to appoint an insolvency practitioner as liquidator in his or her place, but, if this happens, he or she still has a duty to investigate the company’s affairs. So, 2 people may be involved in the liquidation:

  • The liquidator, who is responsible for collecting and realising the assets and paying the creditors.
  • The Official Receiver, who investigates the company’s affairs.

The Official Receiver also has a duty to make a report to the Secretary of State under the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986, regarding the conduct of the company’s directors.

What are the duties of a director in compulsory liquidation proceedings?

In compulsory liquidation proceedings, the company’s directors must:

  • Provide information about the company’s affairs to the Official Receiver, probably initially over the telephone, but later at a formal interview at the Official Receiver’s office.
  • Provide information about the company’s affairs to any insolvency practitioner who is appointed liquidator of the company and attend for interview when reasonably required.
  • Look after and hand over the company’s assets to the liquidator or Official Receiver, together with all its books, records, bank statements, insurance policies and other papers relating to its assets and debts.

When will compulsory liquidation end?

How long liquidation takes will depend on the circumstances of the individual case (e.g. the nature of the assets involved and the complexity of the liquidation), but once the process has been completed the company will be dissolved and cease to exist.

What is receivership?

A receivership is where a chargeholder, normally a bank, appoints a licensed insolvency practitioner to realise sufficient of the company’s assets to pay off the debts owed to the chargeholder. The key difference between receivership and liquidation is that the receiver has no responsibility to pay the general body of creditors. The receiver is concerned principally in clearing the chargeholder’s debt.

What is directors’ disqualification?

In all formalised insolvencies the licensed insolvency practitioner has to prepare a report on the conduct of the directors under the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986. The Insolvency Service considers the report and if they consider it appropriate they can issue court proceedings against a director to have him or her disqualified from holding directorships for anything up to a period of 15 years. Holding a directorship includes directly or indirectly taking part in the management of a limited company. Disqualifications occur in a small minority of insolvencies. The proceedings are civil and not criminal.