Fraudulent Trading: UKSC Ruling Targets Third-Party Involvement

The UK Supreme Court's decision in Bilta (UK) Ltd (in liquidation) and others v Tradition Financial Services Ltd [2025] UKSC 18 has confirmed that liability for fraudulent trading under section 213 Insolvency Act 1986 does not require a defendant to have participated in the management or control of the business that was engaged in fraudulent trading – it extends to the involvement of third parties, and any knowing involvement will suffice.

The judgment also considers an intriguing question about section 32 Limitation Act 1980, which in fraud claims postpones the beginning of the six-year limitation period until such time as the fraud could, with reasonable diligence, have been discovered. How is this section applied where the claimant is a company that had been dissolved six years ago, but is deemed to have existed at the relevant time under section 1032 Companies Act 2006?