Annex – Calling a Meeting

December 2024

Introduction

1. When would the official receiver decide to hold a first meeting?

When the official receiver becomes aware that there are sufficient realisable assets to attract nominations from creditors or contributories for the appointment of an insolvency practitioner (IP) a meeting of creditors should be called having due regard to the guidance given in Technical Manual Chapter 17 paragraph 17.3. The official receiver may also decide to hold a meeting in a case where an Insolvency Practitioner (IP) is willing to act and has the support of creditors despite there being no assets, but such events are rare. 

A decision as to whether to call a meeting is normally made by the examiner following completion of the Case Assessment Record (CAR) on LOIS and the decision recorded on LOIS (CA21). 

2. Is there any time when a first meeting must be held?

If 25% in value of the creditors have requested a meeting, provided all the requirements are met, then the official receiver must hold one. For more information on this subject please refer to the Case Help Manual: Meetings: Requisitioned Meetings.  

3. Who is told about a first meeting?

May 2023

Notices for first meetings must be sent to, all known creditors and contributories, bankrupt and appropriate company personnel. In company and bankruptcy cases where the date of presentation of the petition is before 6 April 2024 the official receiver is required to publicly advertise the meeting in a newspaper.

As a result of changes in the Insolvency Rules that came in to force on 6 April 2023, in all company and bankruptcy cases where the date of presentation of the petition is on or after that date, the official receiver is required to publish a notice of the meeting in the London Gazette. He or she may also advertise the matter in such other manner as he or she thinks fit.

For further details see Case Help Manual parts: First meeting generally and Publication of insolvency information

4. Do the bankrupt or company personnel have to attend?

The official receiver can, should he/she so wish, require them to attend. An appropriate letter is sent to the bankrupt and company officers stating whether or not their attendance at the meeting is required (Form NBMO). 

5. What notices and forms need to be sent out?

The official receiver is required to send notice of the meeting to all known creditors, contributories, the bankrupt and the court. The notice must state the time, date and place of the meeting. This is an appropriate time to also issue the official receiver’s report to creditors but note that the creditors and contributories must also receive a proof of debt form(POD) together with a proxy form(PROXY) for voting purposes.

6. Why does the meeting have to be advertised?

Advertising is a way of telling people about the meeting who otherwise would not know of it e.g. creditors who for some reason have not been included in the Preliminary Information Questionnaire (PIQ) or statement of affairs. The Gazette notice (required in cases where the petition was presented on or after 6 April 2024) and any other advertisement of the meeting, such as in a newspaper, should be published no less than 21 days before the meeting date. 

7. What if there are a large number of creditors?

If the number of creditors makes it impractical for notices to be sent out in the usual way, the official receiver may obtain permission from the court to merely advertise the meeting. This should only happen in exceptional circumstances, for example where an insurance company has many policy holders. An application to court must also be made in these circumstances for an order dispensing with the requirement to send out proofs and other documents to all creditors. 

8. How much notice is given of the meeting?

Creditors, contributories (in companies), the bankrupt and where appropriate company officers must be given at least 21 days notice of the meeting.

In practice, taking into account any postal methods, this means sending out the notices at least 28 days before the meeting is to be held. 

9. What are the time limits for lodging proofs?

The official receiver is required to accept proofs and proxies until 12 noon on the working day before the meeting, unless there are more than 25 creditors when the official receiver may set an earlier deadline. That deadline must not, however, be more than 4 days before the date of the meeting.

Where can I find out more?

The Insolvency Rules:

4.50 and 6.79 –  First Meeting

4.57-4.60 – Company meetings

6.83- 6.86 –  Bankruptcy meetings

The Insolvency Act:

Section 136 –  Functions of Official Receiver as liquidator

Section 293 –  Summoning of a meeting to appoint first trustee

Technical Manual

Chapter 5 – Publication of insolvency information

Chapter 16 paragraphs 16.20 – 16.27

Case Help Manual

Meetings: Requisitioned Meeting

Proofs and Proxies

Publication of insolvency information

LOIS Workbooks: Meetings Process

Forms to be used:

London Gazette (Word template) – company – click HERE

London Gazette (Word template) – bankruptcy – click HERE

NFM –  Notice of First Meeting

NFN3 –  Notice for newspaper covering advertisement of calling a meeting

NMBO –  Notice to a bankrupt/company officer or partner of a meeting and whether their attendance at the meeting is or is not required

POD –  Proof of Debt form

PROXY – Proxy Form

Click HERE to view the flowchart for Calling a Meeting

Procedure

LOIS screen references are given in brackets e.g. (DO73).

1. Receive instruction from the examiner that a meeting is to be held, together with an approved draft of the report to creditors (CAR A form) according to local office practice.

2. Arrange an appropriate date and time for the meeting to be held, ensuring that creditors will receive at least 21 days notice before the meeting. You should allocate a minimum of 28 days to allow sufficient time for posting, etc. Confirm that the meeting will be held within 4 months of the insolvency order. If not, apply to the court for an extension of time. 

3. Where an extension of time has been applied for await the return of the o
rder from court before sending out the notices to the creditors (and contributories in a company).

4. Prepare the Notice of First Meeting (NFM) on LOIS (DO73) stating the date and time of the meeting. Send this to all known creditors with:

1. the report to creditors (CAR A form)
2. Proof of Debt form (POD) and
3. Proxy form (PROXY).

5. Prepare and send form NMBO on LOIS (DO73) to the bankrupt and company officers quoting the date and time of the meeting and state whether or not the bankrupt or company officers are required to attend. The examiner will inform you of this. Ensure that the list of creditors on LOIS is complete, including any references (CA31).

6  Prepare the Gazette notice (if petition presented on or after 6.4.09) and/or other advertisement e.g. local newspaper (form NFN 3). Two London Gazette templates are available as Word documents, click HERE for a winding up and HERE for a bankruptcy.

For more information see paragraph iii and CHM part –  Publication of insolvency information.

The creditors must receive their notice at least 21 days before the meeting.

7. File a copy of form NFM at court together with an RTC. Record the meetings date in the diary according to local office practice and update LOIS (CA21).

After the meetings notices have all been sent

8. Deal with all proofs and proxies as they arrive ensuring that LOIS is regularly updated with creditors’ information (CA31). For further guidance on this please refer to the Case Help Manual part: Proofs and Proxies.

9. For the next stage in the procedure please refer to Case Help Manual part: Day of Meeting