Appointed liquidator and directors have not been engaging with my queries to date. It's still early in the process and I don't want to hang them out to dry just yet and give them another opportunity. My planned approach was to write a a letter reminding them of directors restrictions etc but would like to hear feedback from other posters who have been in similar situations.
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Too soft...
Hit them fast and hit them hard! Your duty is to the creditors, not the directors, and it is you that will be criticised if your timecosts are high because you pussyfooted around trying not to step on the toes of directors that won't carry out their statutory duty to answer the liquidator's reasonable requests for information.
Sorry - has happened, and continues to happen too often to me, and so Mr Nice Guy is locked up for the foreseeable future!
"Threats"
I'll caveat all of this by saying I'm in Scotland, so won't profess to know the English equivalents (although I am sure they exist).
Point out their duty to co-operate. Give them the statutory references for doing so. Explain that if they refuse to co-operate, you have recourse to the Court to have them enforce their co-operation. Failure to follow any directions given by the Court could result in them being found in contempt of Court, which could result in a fine or even imprisonment.
Finally, tell them that their co-operation is one of the elements you consider in completing your D Form to DBIS.
Fundamentally, how many of the above threats you would actually carry out will be determined by the nature of the case (funds available, other sources of information on the company from accountants, solicitors, etc) but they are open to you.
Mmm...
What is your relationship with the company/director? The other Neil is assuming you are the liquidator but I don't think you are. This matters a lot in terms of what you can or should do.
Possible previous relationship
Well the first two words of the OP are "Appointed liquidator", so there is a bit of an indication there. That said, the OP's concerns about the directors make me think there is some prior relationship there. How did the appointment come about? The other Neil is assuming you are the liquidator but I don't think you are.
Or
(The) appointed liquidator and directors...Well the first two words of the OP are "Appointed liquidator", so there is a bit of an indication there. That said, the OP's concerns about the directors make me think there is some prior relationship there. How did the appointment come about? The other Neil is assuming you are the liquidator but I don't think you are.
or
(I am the) appointed liquidator and directors...
Not clear
Other ways of getting their attention...
Are there any overdrawn director loan accounts in the last available accounts at CoHo (assuming you don't have anything more up-to-date).
Get the bank statements for the Company direct from the Company's bankers and analyse for transfers to the director(s). Threaten to sue for repayment of loan accounts.
We did that once with a director who thought he could just ignore us....he suddenly was my best mate when I got decree against him for £670k of unauthorised withdrawals, and threatened to bankrupt him personally.
Duty?
As the liquidator, don't you have a duty to get the best deal for the creditors? I don't see how there is any choice in pursuing the directors unless it is throwing good money after bad.