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© 2009-10 Antony Batty and Company
Licensed Insolvency Practitioners
3 Field Court, Gray's Inn, London. WC1R 5EF
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Liquidation (or ‘winding up’) is the most common type of corporate insolvency procedure. Liquidation is the formal winding up of a company’s affairs entailing the realisation of its assets and the distribution of the proceeds in a prescribed order of priority. With few exceptions, liquidation is the end of the road for a company and following liquidation it will be removed from the companies register. Liquidation may occur following a receivership or administration.
Liquidation may be either compulsory, when it is instituted by order of the court, or voluntary, when it is instituted by resolution of the shareholders. Voluntary liquidation is the more common of the two. An insolvent voluntary liquidation is known as a Creditors’ Voluntary Liquidation because its conduct is primarily under the control of the creditors. A solvent voluntary liquidation is known as a Members’ Voluntary Liquidation, because its conduct is primarily under the control of its members.
We act as Liquidators in all three types of Liquidation
Compulsory liquidation (or compulsory winding up) is instituted by an order made by the court, usually on the petition of a creditor, the company, or a shareholder. There are a number of possible reasons for making a winding-up order. The most common is because the company is insolvent.
Insolvency is usually established by failure to comply with a statutory demand requiring payment within 21 days, or by execution against the company’s goods being returned unsatisfied. A winding-up petition may also be presented by the Secretary of State on the grounds of public interest.
The Official Receiver
In a compulsory liquidation the function of liquidator is in most cases initially performed by an official called the Official Receiver. The Official Receiver is an officer of the court and a member of the Insolvency Service, an executive agency within the BIS (Department for Business Innovation & Skills). In most compulsory liquidations, the Official Receiver becomes liquidator immediately on the making of the winding-up order.
Insolvency Practitioner
Where there are significant assets an insolvency practitioner will usually be appointed to act as liquidator in place of the Official Receiver, either at a meeting of creditors convened for the purpose or directly by the Secretary of State. Where an insolvency practitioner is not appointed the Official Receiver remains liquidator.
Where a compulsory liquidation follows immediately on an administration the court may appoint the former administrator to act as liquidator. In such cases the Official Receiver does not become liquidator. An administrator may also subsequently act as liquidator in a creditors’ voluntary liquidation.
Creditors’ Voluntary Liquidation (or CVL) occurs where the shareholders, usually at the directors’ request, decide to put a company into liquidation because it is insolvent.
A CVL is under the effective control of the creditors, who can appoint a liquidator of their choice.
The CVL is the most common way for directors and shareholders to deal voluntarily with their company’s insolvency. The process is commonly used where a company has come to the end of its useful life.
A solvent liquidation is known as a Members’ Voluntary Liquidation (or MVL), in which a liquidator is appointed by the shareholders and the company’s assets are sufficient to settle all its debts within a period not exceeding 12 months.
MVLs may be used for purposes of reorganisation, for tax reasons, or in the case of owner-managed businesses to enable the shareholders to realise their interest in the company when they do not have succession plans.
We have worked with a number of leading institutions who have had dormant subsidiaries which required winding up, including: Equity & Law, Downing Corporate Finance, Rathbones and Collins Stewart.
