Insolvency Practice Direction relating to the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020

On 3rd July 2020 a new Insolvency Practice Direction (IPD) and an amendment to the Insolvency Proceedings Practice Direction 2018 (2018 PD) were approved by the Chancellor of the High Court (the IPD and amendments were drafted by Mr Justice Zacaroli, chair of the Insolvency Rules Committee with the Chief Insolvency and Companies Court Judge, Judge Briggs, Mr Justice Snowden and Mr Justice Trower).

The IPD and amendment to the 2018 PD primarily deal with a range of measures for insolvency practice under the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 (CIGA). The measures include provisions for the process by which a winding up petition will remain private unless and until a judge has decided that inability to pay the debt on which the statutory demand is based is not as a result of the current pandemic, including a pre-trial review and preliminary hearing.