ABSTRACT
Some assessment of the wrongful trading provision has been undertaken in earlier chapters in the natural course of discussing the provision, its scope and the relevant defence. However, to provide some detailed assessment of the provision would have derogated, in many places, from the general discussion. It is appropriate, now that we have examined s 214 and provided an exposition of the provision and its effect, that I endeavour to engage in an assessment. This chapter identifies some particular issues that need to be examined analytically, and this is followed by a more general assessment of the provision. The chapter culminates with some suggestions for reform and some concluding remarks. All of this is done in light of the fact that the Company Law Review Steering Group (CLRSG), established in 1998 to provide a comprehensive review of company law in the UK, declined to evaluate s 214, preferring to see it as an issue firmly within insolvency law, and in any event it saw no need for changing the provision.1 The government in its Company Law Reform Bill did not address wrongful trading.2
