Photo of Paul Muscutt

An experienced bankruptcy and restructuring lawyer, Paul Muscutt’s practice covers all aspects of contentious and noncontentious insolvency, with specific expertise in cross border complex fraud and asset recovery cases and investigations. Paul acts for financial institutions, asset based lenders, private equity and high net worth investors, insolvency practitioners, directors, and corporate clients. Paul is a partner in Crowell & Moring’s Financial Services Group in the firm’s London office. He is a member of the Legal and Technical Committee for UK Finance and a member of R3’s Policy Group.

The London Crowell & Moring restructuring team (led by partners Cathryn Williams and Paul Muscutt) recently successfully acted in a highly contested application to appoint administrators to the holding companies of the Carlauren Care Home group. For further information, see link below:

https://www.crowell.com/NewsEvents/PressReleasesAnnouncements/Carlauren-Care-Homes-Group-Placed-into-Administration/pdf

http://bit.ly/35KTpji

A disguised remuneration scheme (DRS) is a tax avoidance scheme, many of which involve  artificial remuneration arrangements between an employer and employee. The schemes commonly provide for an employee to be partially remunerated through the company payroll system but with the majority of their remuneration taking the form of a loan. The loan is often funded via a third party (typically an off-shore trust) but, where the loans are never intended to be repaid, HMRC treat the monies advanced as taxable income.
Continue Reading Disguised Remuneration Schemes and the Loan Charge

There are many issues that can hinder the collection of book debts and insolvency (of either the creditor or the debtor) is usually the catalyst for most them. Following an insolvency, those attempting to collect book debts are often faced with a number of reasons as to why a debtor can’t or won’t pay, including the set-off / contra arrangements, product warranty concerns, defective or non-delivery of goods or services and last, but not least, retention of title (“RoT”) clauses.
Continue Reading Retention of title – the unpaid seller v. the asset based lender