The Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 (c. 12) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom relating to companies and other entities in financial difficulty, and which makes temporary changes to laws relating to the governance and regulation of companies and other entities.[1]
The bill was introduced as part of the government response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom and the primary intentions of the bill were to:[2] The act commenced on 26 June 2020. It was amended by Statutory Instrument on 29 September 2020, to further extend certain time periods.
- introduce new corporate restructuring tools to the insolvency and restructuring regime to give companies the breathing space and tools required to maximise their chance of survival
- temporarily suspend parts of insolvency law to support directors to continue trading through the emergency without the threat of personal liability for wrongful trading and to protect companies from creditor action, and
- amend Company Law and other legislation to provide companies and other bodies with temporary easements on company filing and annual general meetings