In these uncertain times, employers and employees need to know where they stand if a company fails. This month's update from Davies Arnold Cooper's Insolvency and Corporate Recovery team considers the types of insolvency procedures, what they mean for those involved and who gets paid what by whom.

Administrations have been in the news lately; fuelled by the downturn and facilitated the Enterprise Act 2002, they are now firmly part of the landscape. Media coverage has highlighted creditors' concerns that Administrators' pre-pack sales can look uncomfortably like "phoenix" operations, with the business and the directors rising triumphantly from the ashes of an insolvent company, leaving their creditors unpaid.

The collapse of Satyam - colloquially referred to as the Indian Enron - provides a timely reminder of the duties owed by auditors and checks and balances available for investors.