INSOL Europe January Newsletter. View this email in your browser.

INSOL Europe news and offers

January 2025

Dear Members

Welcome to 2025, we are off to a good start of the New Year! We are going to be busy this year, not only INSOL Europe but also in our industry. When looking at the most recent insolvency statistics an uptick in those numbers is visible, except maybe the Nordic countries, where those economies look quite resilient with the lowest insolvency numbers of all Europe.
 
At INSOL Europe we are also going to be busy. We will be completing our Strategic Taskforce 2030 and then we’ll be implementing the plan to reach our goals. We are planning our EECC Conference on 8-9 May in Bucharest, and the Annual Congress on 9-12 October in Vienna. The Technical committees for both events are working hard to put together a wonderful programme.
 
One of our current (and future) strategic goals is of course the cooperation with other organizations. These efforts are important in order to strengthen the ties with other national and international organizations and for the networking opportunities that we provide to our members.
 
A few of those events are also mentioned in this Newsletter. Last Friday we organized a very interesting webinar together with Pravo Justice in Ukraine (see the report below). Ukraine has adopted the Directive for preventive restructuring and during the webinar several key aspects of the Directive and the practical outcomes in other jurisdictions were discussed. Next up of note are:

  • Joint AIJA/INSOL Europe YMG 3-day conference 12-14 June in Girona (Spain);
  • R3/INSOL Europe 1-day conference in London, UK on 3 July.

Furthermore, we are planning a joint INSOL International/INSOL Europe conference in January 2026. I hope every member is aware of the added benefit that INSOL Europe provides: all members of INSOL Europe are automatically members of INSOL International and have access to all events and content. See the list below for more benefits available to all members.
 
INSOL Europe is always looking for ways to support members in their home countries and any suggestions for other events are welcome.
 
Alice van der Schee
President, INSOL Europe

 

  

Alice van der Schee
President of
INSOL Europe

 

This issue is kindly
sponsored by:
 

LETT

DLA Piper is a global law
firm with lawyers located
in more than 40 countries
throughout the world.
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Pravo-Justice & INSOL Europe Joint Webinar Report

Preventive Restructuring in Ukraine:
Lessons learned from EU Member States

Pravo-Justice and INSOL Europe joined forces for a webinar on 24 January 2025 further to the implementation of the Directive (EU) 2019/1023 on Restructuring and Insolvency in Ukraine. Indeed, on 22 October 2024, the President of Ukraine signed the law No. 3985-IX adopted by the Parliament of Ukraine on 19 September 2024 amending the Bankruptcy Code and introducing a preventive restructuring framework aligned with the EU acquis. 

The webinar – reaching 154 registrations - focused on the lessons learned from the implementation of the Directive on Restructuring and Insolvency in France, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands and Romania to prepare the entry into force of the Ukrainian preventive restructuring framework.

Iryna Zharonkina (EU Project Pravo-Justice Enforcement and Protection of Property Rights Component Lead) welcomed the attendees and introduced our president Alice van der Schee, (Van Benthem & Keulen, The Netherlands) who presented our organisation as well as an update on the national implementations of the Directive on Restructuring and Insolvency and their assessment by the European Commission.

During three hours, Judge Luciano Panzani (Judicial Wing member, Italy), Stathis Potamitis & Vassilis Stergiou, (POTAMITISVEKRIS, Greece), Christophe Thevenot (Council member, Thevenot Partners, France), Paul-Dieter Cirlanaru, (Council member, CITR, Romania) and Judge Elsbeth de Vos (Judicial Wing member, High Court of Amsterdam, The Netherlands) shared insights from their practical experience within their respective jurisdictions in accessing preventive restructuring procedures, facilitating negotiations on preventive restructuring plans and getting restructuring plans designed and approved.

The discussions were brilliantly moderated by Oleh Vaskovskyi (Supreme Court Justice, Secretary of the Judicial Chamber for Bankruptcy Cases of the Commercial Cassation Court within the Supreme Court), Vladyslav Filatov (Director of Bankruptcy Department, Ministry of Justice of Ukraine) and Oleksandr Bondarchuk, (Head of National Association of Insolvency Trustees, Absolute Law Firm).

The Directive on Restructuring and Insolvency has been a milestone for the EU towards targeted harmonisation of Member States’ national insolvency laws in the area of preventive restructuring frameworks. Our joint event was the opportunity to evaluate the practical impact of the implementation of the provisions of the Directive on Restructuring and Insolvency in five Member States, exchange good practices and highlight issues, amongst EU and Ukrainian professionals that will guide the future of harmonisation of restructuring in Europe.
EECC Conference 2025 - Registration Opening Soon!

We are pleased to announce that the Eastern European Countries' Committee Conference will return to Romania in 2025 for its 19th Annual Conference on Friday 9 May 2025. The venue for the conference will be Bucharest, with a networking dinner taking place on the evening of Thursday 8 May. Further details will be published shortly.

The co-chairs of the INSOL Europe EECC, Stela Ivanova (bnt attorneys in CEE, Bulgaria) and Georges-Louis Harang (Addleshaw Goddard (Europe), France) and Technical Committee members Paul-Dieter Cirlanaru (CITR, Romania) and Andreea Zvac (Wolf Theiss, Romania) are currently planning an outstanding technical programme. More details will be announced when registration is due to open.

With thanks to our EECC Conference Sponsor:
Eurofenix Winter Edition 2024/25 Now Published

The Winter 2024/25 edition of Eurofenix is now available to view online, featuring reports, case studies, European law updates and conference news, as well as many other articles including:

  • Annual Congress Reports & Commentary from Sorrento
  • Directors’ Duties… Something old, something new 
  • Pre-packing in Belgium with the new ‘Silent Bankruptcy’
  • The evolution of insolvency law in Luxembourg
  • Richard Turton Award Winning Paper
  • Landmark WHOA ruling
  • Early warning and preventive restructuring
  • Country reports, news and more!

If you would like to contribute an article to a future edition or are interested in advertising opportunities, please contact publication manager Paul Newson.

Eurofenix is kindly sponsored by Prof.Dr.Pannen

Read the new edition here!
Annual Congress 2025 - Vienna, Austria - Save the Date!

Preparations are now underway for our next Annual Congress, which will be held in Vienna, Austria from 9-12 October 2025. We are pleased to announce that the 2025 Technical Committee will be:

Information about the theme of the Technical Programme will be announced soon!

With thanks to our Main Sponsor:

10 Reasons to renew your Membership in 2025

  1. Get DISCOUNTED RATES for our flagship Annual Congress, Academic Conference, Eastern European Conference and joint events.
  2. Become part of our unique and RENOWNED COMMUNITY where you will have opportunities to network with over 1300 members from 50 countries. 
  3. Access our MEMBERSHIP DIRECTORY where you can search for fellow members by name, jurisdiction, profession and expertise. 
  4. Get in touch with your Council member and Country Co-ordinators to MAKE CONNECTIONS within your own country. 
  5. Automatically become a member of INSOL International and get their full member benefits.
  6. Enjoy a free subscription to EUROFENIX, INSOL Europe’s popular quarterly 48-page journal.
  7. Free access to our huge TECHNICAL RESOURCES library.
  8. Opportunity to PUBLISH ARTICLES in Eurofenix, our Monthly newsletter, on our website and social media. 
  9. GET INVOLVED on projects that affect your particular industry in one of our many working groups or committees.
  10. INSOL Europe has a STRONG RELATIONSHIP with EU officials and representatives of inter-governmental organisations.
Visit our website for more details or contact Hannah Denney.
 

 

INSIDE Story: Playing Different Games in Portugal

This brief Inside Story by José Gonçalves Machado (Professor, Lusófona University, Lisbon; Researcher, CEAD – Francisco Suárez, Portugal) will outline the different principles that apply to and rules on negotiation and implementation for different restructuring plans under the Portuguese restructuring frameworks.

The key questions are how far can contractual freedom and par conditio creditorum (“PCCP”) principles go and whether they can be harmonized.

The Portuguese preventive restructuring frameworks are negotiating tools specially designed to enable distressed and viable companies to restructure effectively and to continue business as a going concern. As negotiating tools, they have a common structure which can be divided into three phases: pre-negotiation phase, negotiation phase (including the drafting of a restructuring plan) and conclusion (through adoption and, in some cases, court confirmation). Read the full story and others here.
Statistics Update: Bankruptcy Proceedings in Spain

Adrian Thery of Garrigues, INSOL Europe’s Country Coordinator for Spain & Elena Couce of Garrigues report on recent statistics from Spain, focusing on bankruptcy proceedings, non-bankruptcy insolvency proceedings and solvent liquidation proceedings in Spain.

Further statistics from Spain and other jurisdictions can be found here.

Bankruptcy proceedings: On 6th September 2022, Law 16/2022, of 5 September, amending the consolidated text of the Insolvency Law, approved by Royal Legislative Decree 1/2020, of 5 May, for the transposition of Directive (EU) 2019/1023 of 20 June 2019, on restructuring and insolvency (the “Directive”) entered into force. Since then, the number of bankruptcy proceedings opened by both natural and legal persons have significantly increased.  

This is due not only to the approval of a revision of the Spanish Insolvency Act, but also because of the end of the Covid regulations imposing a moratorium on the duty to file for bankruptcy, which ended effectively on June 30, 2022. In this sense:

  • The number of bankruptcies opened in 2023 amount to 20,666. From these, 4,544 correspond to corporate bankruptcies, while 15,385 correspond to natural person bankruptcies.
  • The number of bankruptcies opened in 2024 amount to 27,730. From these, 4,192 correspond to corporate bankruptcies, while 23,538 correspond to natural person bankruptcies.  

With regards to corporate bankruptcies, q3 2023 saw a year-on year (“YoY”) decrease of bankruptcies opened of -28.3%, reaching a total of 1,027 new proceedings; q4 2023 saw a YoY increase of bankruptcies opened of 18.7% reaching a total of 1,350 new proceedings; q1 2024 saw a YoY increase of bankruptcies opened of 67.3% reaching a total of 1,526 new proceedings; q2 2024 saw a YoY increase of bankruptcies opened of 17.4% reaching a total of 1,474 new proceedings; and q3 2024 saw a YoY increase of bankruptcies opened of 16.7% reaching a total of 1,192 new proceedings. 

Natural person bankruptcies have also registered big increases, reaching 3,027 new proceedings in q3 2023 (meaning a 80.6% YoY increase); 3,696 new proceedings in q4 2023 (meaning a 0.6% YoY increase); 6,673 new proceedings in q1 2024; 8,224 new proceedings in q2 2024; and 8,641 new proceedings in q3 2024. In q3 2024 most economic sectors show a YoY increase: industry (10.8% YoY), services (29% YoY), trading (31.6%), and hospitality (15.2%). However, construction shows a YoY decrease (-6.7%).

Pre-insolvency proceedings: The revision of the consolidated text of the Insolvency Law for the transposition of Directive (EU) 2019/1023 has introduced a new pre-insolvency proceeding called restructuring plans. Recourse to these pre-insolvency proceedings in 2023, with 341 filings for the homologation of restructuring plans, proves the success of this new figure. Restructuring plans’ filings for homologation up to October 2024, which amount to 255, have also remained somewhat stable with respect to 2023 (-3.77% YoY decrease).

Solvent liquidation proceedings: The number of solvent dissolved companies in Spain reached 23,124 up to October 2024, resulting in a YoY decrease of -0.64%. The most relevant sectors show different numbers with regards to solvent liquidations proceedings: industry saw a -1.20% decrease YoY in 2024; construction saw a 3.15% YoY increase in 2024; services saw a 1.56% YoY increase in 2024; hospitality saw a 5.13% YoY increase in 2024; and energy saw a -34.29% YoY decrease in 2024. 

 

Save the Date: Fraud Conference 2025

The Fraud Advisory Panel and Female Fraud Forum are thrilled to announce the Fraud Conference 2025: Theory into Action! Kindly sponsored and hosted by ICAEW.

This groundbreaking event will explore transformative topics, including an INSOL Europe panel on the subject of “Investment fraud – Obligation on banks to reimburse victims of fraud” (tbc) featuring Bart Heynickx (Altius, Belgium, Co-Chaire of the INSOL Europe Anti-Fraud Forum) to chair, with Frances Coulson (Wedlake Bell, UK), Enda Lowry (Teneo, Ireland) and Caroline Ievers (Grant Thornton, UK).

Other topics will include the role of AI in combating fraud, ESG initiatives and addressing fraud in environmental contexts, new legistlation updates, case studies… and much more.
Book Now and don’t miss out.
Forthcoming Events in 2025 - Save the Dates!

We are already working on our next series of high-profile events, presenting many opportunities for businesses, industries, and professionals to connect, innovate, and grow. The year will offer numerous occasions for networking, thought leadership, and market expansion. Here’s a preview of the key INSOL Europe events that will drive business opportunities and shape trends in 2025.

  • 8-9 May 2025, EECC Conference, Bucharest, Romania
  • 12-14 June 2025, AIJA/INSOL Europe Young Members Group (YMG) Joint Conference, Girona, Spain
  • 3 July 2025, Joint Conference with R3
  • 7-8 October 2025, Academic Forum Conference, Vienna, Austria
  • 9-12 October 2025, Annual Congress, Vienna, Austria

Visit our website for more events to be added as they are confirmed.
 
 

We welcome feedback, news and story ideas for future newsletters. 

Please send your suggestions to Paul Newson, CEO & Communications Manager,
email: paulnewson@insol-europe.org.

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Thanks to our General Sponsors

Please contact Hannah Denney for sponsorship opportunities.

 
INSOL Europe, PO Box 7149, Clifton, Nottingham. NG11 6WD
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Disclaimer: This newsletter is sent to members of INSOL Europe. No responsibility legal or otherwise is accepted by INSOL Europe for any errors, omissions or otherwise. The opinions expressed in the articles that appear are not necessarily shared by any representative of INSOL Europe.