INSOL EUROPE ACADEMIC FORUM CONFERENCE
VILAMOURA, PORTUGAL
Wednesday 14 and Thursday 15 October 2026
New horizons: Insolvency III, winding-up of insolvent EU Inc. and beyond
Subject to alterations
As at 26 June 2026
Wednesday 14 October 2026
| 12:00 – 13:00 |
Welcome Buffet Lunch |
| 13:00 – 13:15 |
Welcome Address, Jessica Schmidt, Chair of the INSOL Europe Academic Forum |
| 13:15 – 15:00 | Session One – EU Inc.: One Company, One Market, One Insolvency Framework? Session Chair: Jessica Schmidt |
| EU Inc. Insolvency Proceedings Alexandre Soveral Martins From Creditor Protection to Enabling Law? Rethinking the Function of European Corporate Insolvency Law through the EU Inc. Alexander Philipp Stern The boundaries between corporate law and insolvency law rules under the light of the EU Inc. proposal Diogo Pessoa |
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| 15:00 – 15:30 | Coffee break |
| 15:30 – 17:00 | Session Two – Streamlining Insolvency: New Challenges in Pre-Packs and Simplified Liquidations & simplified liquidation Session Chair: Eugenio Vaccari |
| Mergers and Divisions by Acquisition in Pre-Pack Proceedings: Asymmetric Creditor Protection and the Waiver of Company Law Formalities under Directive (EU) 2026/799 Elda Marques Too Close to Be Fair? Pre-Pack Sales to Related Parties João Pedro Pinto-Ferreira The Present and Future of Simplified Liquidation Regimes for Micro and Small Enterprises José Gonçalves Machado |
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| 17:00 – 18:00 | The Gabriel Moss Memorial Lecture Chair: Jessica Schmidt, Chair of the INSOL Europe Academic Forum |
| Catarina Serra | |
| 18:30 – 19:30 | Reception |
| 19:30 – late | Academic Dinner |
Thursday 15 October 2026
| 08:30 – 09:00 | Morning Coffee |
| 09:00 – 10:30 | Session Three – Who Bears the Loss? Avoidance, Subordination, and Fairness in European Insolvency Session Chair: Giulia Ballerini |
| “A terrible beauty is born” – a new harmonised EU law on insolvency transactional avoidance Gerard McCormack Minimum Harmonisation, Maximum Divergence? Evaluating the EU’s 2026 Transaction Avoidance Rules Against the UNCITRAL Legislative Guide Oriana Casasola Shareholder Loan Subordination in European Insolvency Law: A Model for Rescue-Focused Reform Rebecca Perry & Dhanya Jha & Aditya Jain Equity likes and insolvency: a missed opportunity? Cruz Amado de la Riega |
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| 10:30 – 11:00 | Coffee Break |
| 11:00 – 12:30 | Session Four – “Insolvency law on new frontiers: shipwrecks, crypto crashes and space debris” Session Chair: Gerard McCormack |
| Marine Environmental Disasters: The Necessary Relationship Between Maritime and Insolvency Laws Matthew Chippin When the EU Insolvency Framework Meets Outer Space: The Recast EIR, the Insolvency III Directive, and the Case for a Dedicated EU Space Insolvency Instrument Charles Ho Wang Mak Crypto-Asset Failure: MiCAR’s ‘Burial Plans’ and the Private International Law dimension of CASPs’ Cross-Border Insolvency Pier Mario Lupinu & Cayetana Santaolalla Montoya |
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| 12:30 – 13:30 | Lunch |
| 13:30 – 15:00 | Session Five – Decision-Making in Insolvency: Courts, Mediators, and Corporate Directors Session Chair: Catarina Serra |
| The U.S. Supreme Court and the Public Policy Exception Paul Lewis Amicable Settlement in Insolvency Stephen Ware New Developments in Directors’ Duties in the Vicinity of Insolvency: ESG and Beyond Diederik Bruloot |
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| 15:00 – 15:30 | Coffee Break |
| 15:30 – 17:00 | The Edwin Coe Open Forum in Coordination with the Judicial Wing Session Chair : Catarina Serra |
| Open to all delegates of the Vilamoura Main Congress |
|
| 17:00 – 17:15 |
Closing Address, Jessica Schmidt |