ABSTRACT
There have been very few successful claims for wrong trading. Andrew Hicks discovered in an informal survey86 in the relatively early days of s 214’s existence that liquidators often managed to achieve an out-of-court settlement of actual or potential wrongful trading claims. It has been suggested that the provision is having an effect on the practice of company management87 in that those advising directors are very aware of the need to warn their clients of the consequences of wrongful trading and banks are likely to require an accountant’s certificate that continued trading will not be wrongful where the company’s financial situation appears fragile. The increasingly apparent lack of successful cases has, however, fuelled the growing perception of recent years that s 214 has not achieved its purpose.88
