How should a director respond to the threat of disqualification?

In this podcast, director disqualification specialists Stephen Downie and Carly Moore-Martin discuss in depth the ins and outs of disqualification, including:

• the process for disqualifying directors
• recent changes to the law in terms of who can be disqualified
• the risks in taking an “easy” disqualification undertaking
• disqualification steps being taken against directors who sought CBILs, Bounce Back Loans, furlough grants and other Covid-19 related financial assistance
• trends being adopted by the Insolvency Service in terms of what it considers to be “misconduct”
• compensation orders that may be sought against all directors disqualified, including those who dissolved their companies
• other financial threats directors may face

In a special podcast for accountants of SMEs, Maria Koureas-Jones and Sue Brumby discuss the recent increase in claims against directors based on overdrawn director’s loan accounts.

They look at how accountants can protect their clients from such claims and, in turn, reduce the risk of being sued for professional negligence.

How do creditors go about having overseas judgments recognised here? What steps should they take to enforce them?

FWJ partner Maria Koureas-Jones and guest presenter Maria Mulla, an experienced barrister from No5 Chambers, discuss the key considerations.

It’s not just celebrities and criminals who get caught out with tax avoidance schemes – ordinary, law-abiding company directors can also land themselves in trouble with HMRC simply by following what appears to be clever, professional advice on schemes that “reduce” tax.

In this episode, Stephen Downie and Maria Koureas-Jones look at some of the more common tax avoidance schemes, measures the government has taken to tackle these schemes and how to deal with repayment demands by HMRC or insolvency practitioners.

The Rating (Coronavirus) and Directors Disqualification (Dissolved Companies) Act 2021 allows the government to investigate directors of dissolved companies in addition to directors of companies in an insolvency process. This is to increase the options available to recover bounce back loan debts.

In this podcast episode, Maria Koureas-Jones and Stephen Downie look at the options available to government and discuss the implications for borrowers and directors.

Company directors are bound by a series of duties, as set out in the Companies Act 2006 and at common law. Failure to adhere fully to those duties can be devasting, not just for the company but for the director personally.

In this episode, Stephen Downie and Maria Koureas-Jones look at the main duties of a director, how things can go wrong and ways of minimising personal risk to the directors.

In this episode, Stephen Downie and Maria Koureas-Jones highlight the personal risks to directors of being paid via a director's loan account, providing insights to help directors ask their accountants the right questions and make more informed decisions about how they are paid.

In this podcast, Francis Wilks & Jones partners Stephen Downie and Maria Koureas-Jones discuss how ending the government's pandemic-related grant and loan schemes will directly impact companies and their directors.

Now that winding up petitions can once again be presented against companies and directors are being made accountable for their actions during this time, there are a number of risks for directors and their advisors to consider.

Stephen and Maria look at what they are and how to either avoid or deal with them.