UK Law and Practice Contributed by: Kate Stephenson and Zoe Stembridge, Kirkland & Ellis
The Chancery Division of England and Wales has also adopted the Judicial Insolvency Network (JIN) Guidelines on court-to-court communication and co- operation for use in cross-border insolvency matters. 6.2 Jurisdiction Jurisdictional eligibility varies according to the rel - evant procedure. Administration or CVA These are available to companies incorporated in England, Wales, Scotland or a member state of the European Economic Area (EEA), in addition to those registered under the Companies Act 2006 in England and Wales or Scotland and those not incorporated in an EEA member state but with their COMI in the UK or an EU member state (other than Denmark). They are also available upon request from courts in certain other designated countries and territories. Scheme or Restructuring Plan These are available to companies with a “sufficient connection” to the UK. This is often established by the debtor having its COMI in the UK, or where the debt subject to the scheme/plan is governed by English law and/or contains an English jurisdiction clause. There are a variety of ways for a foreign debtor to access the UK jurisdiction, including by shifting the company’s COMI to the UK or changing governing law to English law. The court must also be satisfied that the scheme/ plan is likely to be substantially effective in relevant jurisdictions – eg, the jurisdiction(s) of incorporation of the debtor and guarantors. Liquidation This is available to companies with a “sufficient con - nection” to the UK. There must be a realistic possi - bility of benefit to those applying for the winding-up order. One or more persons interested in the distri - bution of the company’s assets must be persons over whom the court can exercise jurisdiction. How - ever, if the company is being wound up on the public interest/”just and equitable” ground, only a “sufficient
ber state and is, therefore, outside the applicable law regime under the European Insolvency Regulation. Applicable law varies according to the specific facts of the relevant case. 6.4 Recognition and Enforceability Please see 6.1 Sources of International Insolvency Law regarding the recognition of foreign restructuring/ insolvency procedures. Foreign judgments can be enforced in the following ways: • under the Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements, where there is an exclusive choice of court agreement and the judgment is from a court in a jurisdiction that is also party to that Convention (although “insolvency, composition and analogous matters” are excluded from the scope of the Con - vention); • since 1 July 2025, under the Hague Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Civil or Commercial Matters, where the judgment is from a court in a jurisdiction that is also party to that Convention (although “insolvency, composition, resolution of financial institutions, and analogous matters” are excluded from the scope of the Convention); or • by bringing proceedings applying for the recog - nition and enforcement of the foreign judgment under the common law regime – this requires that the defendant was present in the foreign country when the proceedings were commenced or agreed to the relevant jurisdiction, voluntarily appeared in the proceedings, or otherwise submitted to the foreign jurisdiction. 6.5 Co-Ordination in Cross-Border Cases The English courts will generally seek to co-operate with their counterparts in other jurisdictions, both sub - stantively and procedurally, subject to certain tenets of common law. The legal bases for co-operation include the Cross-Border Insolvency Regulations 2006, Section 426 of the Insolvency Act 1986 and the principle of comity under common law. Broadly, the courts favour a policy of “modified universalism”.
connection” is required. 6.3 Applicable Law
There is no overarching regime for determining appli - cable law now that the UK is no longer an EU mem -
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