The shifting of directors' duties in the vicinity of insolvency

Directors are obviously critical to the management of companies, and perhaps even more so when a company is in financial difficulties. This paper examines the position of directors when their company is in the vicinity of insolvency. It provides an analytical exposition of the law that exists in common law jurisdictions where, in the vicinity of insolvency, there is a shift in the nature of the duties of its directors, namely, directors have to take into account the interest of the creditors when exercising their powers and discharging their duties. The paper endeavours to identify and discuss the main problems that exist with this shift in the nature of duties so that if other jurisdictions do consider implementing it, they are aware of the drawbacks and may be able to address them.