Bankruptcy, Restructuring, and Insolvency

Our work in this area has attracted national media coverage, including in The Times, and has inspired leading insolvency practitioners — including Kroll Advisory — to appoint us in high-profile matters such as the Woodville Litigation Funding administration (£330 million loan book), the 79th Group (£250 million international investment scheme and suspected fraud), and the Carlauren Group (£80 million fractional ownership collective investment scheme operated fraudulently as a Ponzi scheme). 

Our clients include financial institutions, insolvency practitioners, asset-based lenders, private equity and high-net-worth investors, directors, and corporate clients facing distress. Our experience spans: 

• Failed investment scheme recovery: Acting for administrators, trustees in bankruptcy, and investors in recovering assets from collapsed loan note, bond, UCIS, and fractional ownership schemes, including obtaining worldwide freezing orders against scheme operators and associated parties. 

• Cross-border fraud and asset recovery: Tracing and recovering assets held offshore or transferred prior to insolvency, including through Section 236 examinations, Norwich Pharmacal orders, and third-party disclosure orders. 

• Investment scheme administration and liquidation: Acting as or advising joint administrators and liquidators in high-profile investment scheme collapses, including contested administration order applications in the High Court. 

• Investor claims and creditor recoveries: Advising investors and creditor groups on their rights and remedies following the collapse of investment schemes, including misfeasance and antecedent transaction claims against directors. 

• Bank and financial institution liability: Advising on claims against banks and financial institutions alleged to have facilitated or failed to prevent investment fraud, including in relation to loan note and Ponzi scheme matters. 

• Restructuring and turnaround: Advising boards, lenders, and stakeholders on all formal and informal restructuring tools, including administration, company voluntary arrangements, schemes of arrangement, restructuring plans, and pre-pack sales. 

• Asset-based lending: Advising banks and asset-based lenders in distressed scenarios, including enforcement and recovery actions. 

For businesses facing financial distress, early advice gives the best chance of saving the business as a going concern and delivering optimal outcomes for all stakeholders. For investors and creditors who have suffered losses in a failed investment scheme, swift action — including steps to freeze assets before they can be dissipated — is essential. Our team has the experience and track record to move quickly in both contexts. 

In addition to client work, our lawyers are active participants in key industry bodies. Our partners have served on the Council of R3 (the Association of Business Recovery Professionals), as co-chair of R3’s Education, Conferences and Courses Committee, and on its Policy Group; and also on the Legal and Technical Committee of UK Finance. Our team has been consistently recommended by The Legal 500 UK in asset-based lending and restructuring and insolvency.