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Research by the Centre for Business and Insolvency Law is helping to increase investor confidence and economic stability through influence on laws in Africa and practice in the UK.
Integrating developing countries into the global economy and encouraging investment require sound legal infrastructure, with modern insolvency laws that increase investor confidence over likely outcomes of financial crisis. Burdette's research has directly influenced Seychelles legislation, legislation currently before parliament in Malawi and insolvency practice in South Africa.
Robust insolvency laws are also important for maintaining a stable domestic economy. Walters (with external co-authors) has influenced public debate regarding costs in insolvency.
With over 130,000 insolvencies (corporate and personal) recorded annually in England and Wales insolvency is a significant area of legal practice. This study spotlights one major publication (Sealy and Milman: Annotated Guide to Insolvency Legislation) which has informed, and is informed by, other scholarly pieces. Evidence is offered of this publication's reach, indicating how it has developed into an authoritative legal source in its own right. Users of the research include lawyers advising/representing their clients, repeat players (such as HMRC) and judges dealing with issues of interpretation. These groups benefit by having professional time saved in researching points and by having something to base advice or a decision upon when there is no available precedent. The ultimate beneficiaries are the public who rely on legal advice and whose rights depend upon favourable judicial rulings.
The statutory definition of "insolvency" involves proving a debtor's "inability to pay debts." In corporate insolvency, this definition is found in s123 Insolvency Act 1986. Although s123 has existed for over a hundred years (in various forms), its meaning has not been fully understood. The historical explanation of this definition, found in the underpinning research, as to the true meaning of the definition, has been adopted by the Supreme Court (in May 2013) in BNY Corporate Trustee Services Limited v Eurosail [2013] UKSC 28 in overruling the Court of Appeal's "point of no return" interpretation of s123.
Professor Iain Ramsay's research into personal insolvency and regulation of consumer credit has had a far-reaching, significant impact, which has been felt in four major ways. First and most recently, Ramsay has drawn on his published research to co-author a highly influential World Bank report, which forms the foundation for future policy in this area and has already been relied upon in the Colombian national reform process, with India and South Africa likewise proposing to use it to frame their domestic reform discussions. Second, a number of influential UK governmental and non-governmental committees (including the Select Committee on Business, Innovation and Skills, National Audit Office and Office of Fair Trading) have each drawn on Ramsay's research. Third, Ramsay has been invited to advise other national governments and commissions (including Ireland, and Sweden), as well as acting as the UK rapporteur on EU studies (e.g. of interest rate ceilings). Finally, he has drawn on his research to advise NGOs in Europe, Latin America and at the international level (including The Centre for Responsible Credit; Consumers International; the International Protection of Consumers Committee of the International Law Association; and Brasilcon).