Wednesday 30 May 2012

UK: England and Wales: the football creditor rule and insolvency law

The High Court gave judgment last Friday in HMRC v The Football League Ltd & Anor [2012] EWHC 1372 (Ch). At issue was the operation of the so-called football creditor rule which, HMRC argued, was void because it conflicted with insolvency law, more specifically the pari passu principle and anti-deprivation rule. Whilst the trial judge found that in most circumstances the football creditor rule would not be rendered void by the anti-deprivation rule and/or pari passu principle, he concluded his judgment by stating that the Football League "should not regard the result of this case as an endorsement of its approach to football creditors. It is ... a decision on a challenge brought on a particular legal basis" (para. [189]).

Update (30 May 2012): the ICLR has provided a summary of the decision here.

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