The Insolvency (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2009

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations amend the Insolvency Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996 (S.R. 1996 No. 574) (“the principal Regulations”). Paragraphs 1 and 2 of the Schedule insert new regulations 3B and 3C into the principal Regulations to make provision allowing payments of unclaimed funds and dividends to be made, on the dissolution of a company, by an administrator or an administrative receiver into the Insolvency Account. They also make similar provision for liquidators in a voluntary winding up, whilst retaining the mandatory requirement to make payment into the Insolvency Account in respect of a winding up by the court. Further provision is made for the information which must be provided by the office-holders when making a payment into the Insolvency Account of unclaimed dividends or other sums in an administration, an administrative receivership or a voluntary winding up.

Paragraph 3 removes references to unclaimed or undistributed assets and undistributed dividends in regulation 18 of the principal Regulations, since upon dissolution of a company all property and rights whatsoever vested in or held on trust for the company (but not including property held by the company on trust for any other person) are deemed to be bona vacantia, and accordingly belong and are payable to the Crown, or to the Duchy of Lancaster or the Duke of Cornwall for the time being (as the case may be).

Paragraph 4 amends Schedule 1 to the principal Regulations which sets out the hourly rates for the remuneration of the official receiver and his officers. The new remuneration provisions shall apply where a winding-up order, bankruptcy order or an appointment as an interim receiver or provisional liquidator is made after 1st October 2009 (Regulation 3).

A regulatory impact assessment has not been prepared for these Regulations.