Andrew Tonge

Expertise Andrew Advises Experience Highlights Career History Testimonials

Partner

Restructuring & Insolvency

+44 (0) 7771 803 759

Expertise

Andrew is an experienced Restructuring and Insolvency lawyer.

Andrew’s expertise covers all aspects of corporate insolvency law and practice. Throughout his career, Andrew has represented a wide range of clients across diverse sectors. He acts in advisory, litigation and transactional matters, including in relation to:

  • Administration and liquidation
  • Directors’ duties, risk and disqualification
  • Insolvency investigations, associated criminal offences, delivery of information, confidentiality, and privilege
  • Trading whilst insolvent, wrongful trading, misfeasance
  • Securities, debentures, and financial collateral
  • Antecedent transactions (e g, undervalues, preferences), asset stripping and creditor avoidance
  • Phoenix companies and the re-use of insolvent company names
  • Advising boards of directors in the ‘twilight zone’: identifying insolvency, when to call in administrators and liquidators, and how to deal with creditors including banks
  • Distressed and insolvent business and asset disposals including pre-pack and pre-insolvency disposals
  • Banking, finance and corporate disputes and litigation
  • Litigation and disputes arising from administration and liquidation
  • Professional regulatory investigations and proceedings brought by the FCA and SRA
  • Guarantees and indemnities
  • Fraud and money laundering

Andrew Advises

  • Insolvency practitioners
  • Companies across a wide range of sectors
  • Company directors and shareholders
  • Secured and unsecured creditors and debtors, including private debenture holders
  • Commercial lenders
  • Finance professionals and lawyers

Experience Highlights

  • Advising boards of directors in the corporate twilight zone: identifying insolvency, compliance with directors’ duties, avoiding personal liabilities, and advising on the management and control of catastrophic insolvency events such as litigation and trade interruptions.
  • Urgently placing companies into administration, liaising with insolvency practitioners and other professionals, secured and unsecured creditors and other stakeholders, advising on maintaining the asset base, crucial payments, avoiding preferences and advising in relation to the pre-pack disposals of business and assets.
  • Representing a former fund operator in the high-profile liquidation of The Connaught Income Fund, Series 1, which collapsed into liquidation with alleged losses of circa £100 million. Andrew acted in the ensuing high-value litigation in the High Court, including the reported case of The Connaught Income Fund, Series 1 (in liquidation) v Capita Financial Managers [2014] EWHC 3619 (Comm), [2014] All ER (D) 56 (Nov) and in the regulatory investigation conducted by the Financial Conduct Authority under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, in which the FCA pursued multi-million-pound fines. The collapse of the Fund was mentioned in Parliament and led to the creation of an All-Party Parliamentary Group and was the subject of an independent review into the handling of the Fund by the FCA (and its predecessor, the FSA).
  • Advising in the negotiation of the settlement of breach of duty/misfeasance claims, including in relation to unlawful dividends and other financial irregularity, pre and post commencement of litigation.
  • Advising in relation to ongoing post insolvency duties and the realisation of assets in liquidation and the re-use of the insolvent company names.
  • Advising liquidators concerning possible hidden crypto currency assets and the conduct of their statutory investigations.
  • Advising in banking and financial litigation, including as regards potentially insolvent opponents.
  • Advising on insolvency investigations, including under section 235 of the Insolvency Act and associated criminal offences.
  • Advising in relation to companies in MVL and as to conversion to CVL.
  • Representing lawyers in the insolvencies of professional practices including in regulatory proceedings before the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal following the liquidation of professional practices.
  • Advising companies in the diving/subsea industries, on insolvency and regulatory issues.

Career History

Previous Law Firms

  • Nexus Solicitors Limited, Director (2011 – 2022)
  • Nexus Solicitors, Partner (2007 – 2011)
  • Hill Dickinson, Partner (2004 – 2007)
  • Previously at other law firms since 1995

Education

  • Solicitor of the Senior Courts
  • LLB (Hons), Sheffield Hallam University

Other

  • Andrew is a Visiting Lecturer at the University of Law
  • Prior to studying law, Andrew was in the Royal Navy (including service on Polaris nuclear submarines)

Expertise

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Andrew is an experienced Restructuring and Insolvency lawyer.

Andrew’s expertise covers all aspects of corporate insolvency law and practice. Throughout his career, Andrew has represented a wide range of clients across diverse sectors. He acts in advisory, litigation and transactional matters, including in relation to:

  • Administration and liquidation
  • Directors’ duties, risk and disqualification
  • Insolvency investigations, associated criminal offences, delivery of information, confidentiality, and privilege
  • Trading whilst insolvent, wrongful trading, misfeasance
  • Securities, debentures, and financial collateral
  • Antecedent transactions (e g, undervalues, preferences), asset stripping and creditor avoidance
  • Phoenix companies and the re-use of insolvent company names
  • Advising boards of directors in the ‘twilight zone’: identifying insolvency, when to call in administrators and liquidators, and how to deal with creditors including banks
  • Distressed and insolvent business and asset disposals including pre-pack and pre-insolvency disposals
  • Banking, finance and corporate disputes and litigation
  • Litigation and disputes arising from administration and liquidation
  • Professional regulatory investigations and proceedings brought by the FCA and SRA
  • Guarantees and indemnities
  • Fraud and money laundering

Andrew Advises

Back to top
  • Insolvency practitioners
  • Companies across a wide range of sectors
  • Company directors and shareholders
  • Secured and unsecured creditors and debtors, including private debenture holders
  • Commercial lenders
  • Finance professionals and lawyers

Experience Highlights

Back to top
  • Advising boards of directors in the corporate twilight zone: identifying insolvency, compliance with directors’ duties, avoiding personal liabilities, and advising on the management and control of catastrophic insolvency events such as litigation and trade interruptions.
  • Urgently placing companies into administration, liaising with insolvency practitioners and other professionals, secured and unsecured creditors and other stakeholders, advising on maintaining the asset base, crucial payments, avoiding preferences and advising in relation to the pre-pack disposals of business and assets.
  • Representing a former fund operator in the high-profile liquidation of The Connaught Income Fund, Series 1, which collapsed into liquidation with alleged losses of circa £100 million. Andrew acted in the ensuing high-value litigation in the High Court, including the reported case of The Connaught Income Fund, Series 1 (in liquidation) v Capita Financial Managers [2014] EWHC 3619 (Comm), [2014] All ER (D) 56 (Nov) and in the regulatory investigation conducted by the Financial Conduct Authority under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, in which the FCA pursued multi-million-pound fines. The collapse of the Fund was mentioned in Parliament and led to the creation of an All-Party Parliamentary Group and was the subject of an independent review into the handling of the Fund by the FCA (and its predecessor, the FSA).
  • Advising in the negotiation of the settlement of breach of duty/misfeasance claims, including in relation to unlawful dividends and other financial irregularity, pre and post commencement of litigation.
  • Advising in relation to ongoing post insolvency duties and the realisation of assets in liquidation and the re-use of the insolvent company names.
  • Advising liquidators concerning possible hidden crypto currency assets and the conduct of their statutory investigations.
  • Advising in banking and financial litigation, including as regards potentially insolvent opponents.
  • Advising on insolvency investigations, including under section 235 of the Insolvency Act and associated criminal offences.
  • Advising in relation to companies in MVL and as to conversion to CVL.
  • Representing lawyers in the insolvencies of professional practices including in regulatory proceedings before the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal following the liquidation of professional practices.
  • Advising companies in the diving/subsea industries, on insolvency and regulatory issues.

Career History

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Previous Law Firms

  • Nexus Solicitors Limited, Director (2011 – 2022)
  • Nexus Solicitors, Partner (2007 – 2011)
  • Hill Dickinson, Partner (2004 – 2007)
  • Previously at other law firms since 1995

Education

  • Solicitor of the Senior Courts
  • LLB (Hons), Sheffield Hallam University

Other

  • Andrew is a Visiting Lecturer at the University of Law
  • Prior to studying law, Andrew was in the Royal Navy (including service on Polaris nuclear submarines)
Testimonials