Questioning Receivership

In Independent Trustee Company v Registrar of Companies 2015, the plaintiff (ITC) challenged the Irish Registrar of Companies (or Companies Registration Office: the CRO). The plaintiff claimed that the CRO gave the status of "receivership" on the register of companies to a company which had a receiver appointed over some and not all of its assets.

A lender appointed receivers over certain assets, which ITC held on trust for a sub-fund. The lender placed the usual advertisement in a newspaper and notified the CRO of the appointment.

Before the High Court (Judge Hunt), ITC argued that the relevant provisions of the Irish Companies Act 1963 (Act), did not apply where a company had no beneficial interest in the property. Evidence was given that creditors, customers and business counterparties of ITC had been alarmed at this development. ITC argued that the label 'receivership' implied that it was insolvent, which was not accurate.