LexisNexis RandI has published a review of the prospects and likely developments in the UK’s restructuring and insolvency markets in 2017, featuring the thoughts and predictions of a panel of experienced insolvency professionals.
Comments by our Business Risk Advisor, Nick Hood include:
“The Brexit vote is bound to have an impact, if only because of the uncertainty it has created. Litigators will not want to be caught the wrong side of the loss of automatic recognition of our insolvency proceedings under the European Insolvency Regulation or to find that a judgment awarded in the UK is suddenly unenforceable within the EU. These events may or may not happen, transitional arrangements will probably be unclear and the timing of any changes could be near or far away. However, the mere threat is likely to prompt a certain degree of renewed urgency in case management, especially once Article 50 of the Treaty on the European Union (TEU) has been triggered.”
“The legal profession is in a state of flux. The past few months has seen a myriad of failed, forced and occasionally friendly mergers, especially in the middle market. This trend is also driving the creation of specialist boutique firms, which emerge from these combinations as certain legal disciplines fall out of favour with new and more commercially driven ownership structures. It would be a surprise if this trend did not soon produce independent insolvency, restructuring and banking houses, which may then pull specialists out of other firms as they contemplate life as a marginal legal service line provider in a merged mega firm. Insolvency specialists are also likely to find themselves under pressure to broaden their expertise, so that they can offer a wider set of options for their firms to pitch to their clients.”