A recent decision of the UK Supreme Court has provided welcome confirmation that section 423 of the Insolvency Act 1986 (IA1986) has a wide scope and that there is no significant gap in the legislation that would potentially allow debtors to avoid creditors by holding assets through corporate vehicles and transfer them for little or no value.

A subsequent Court of Appeal ruling, however, serves as a timely reminder that, for a claim under s423 to succeed, it must be proved that putting assets beyond the reach of creditors was a positively intended consequence of the transfer rather than a by-product. That intention is not always easy to prove.