Radu Lotrean
President of
INSOL Europe

We are pleased to announce that our Keynote Speakers for the 2018 conference in Riga are Latvia's Prime Minister, Māris Kučinskis, and Minister of Justice, Dzintars Rasnačs.

As an insolvency practitioner it is always a balance to meet certain interests, but at the same time follow and use the different legal frameworks. That is why the title of our 2018 conference will be 'Balance of Interests: Restructuring, Insolvency and Second Chance'. The conference will be focused mainly on new approaches across Europe towards (cross-border) insolvency, how local and European laws have developed and the Commission's plans for harmonisation of the Member States' insolvency laws. The conference will consider the possibilities in different European jurisdictions for financing and other crucial tools to save as many companies as possible where there is a viable business.

Attending our conference presents an excellent opportunity to meet industry experts and to learn about the latest trends in insolvency. The conference will be preceded by an optional networking dinner (on Thursday 31 May) in a restaurant in the centre of the old town, during which the guests can have a taste of both Latvia’s culinary and music traditions.

Registration is now open!

Click here for details and
to register your place.

We are very excited about this event and look forward to welcoming you in Riga.

Just by saying the word “Athens” one can’t help but think of the oldest and biggest civilization in Europe, stretching back more than 3,000 years. Imagine walking on the hill of Pnika or strolling the Ancient Market, places where people used to meet to discuss important public issues, places where democracy first appeared. 

It is therefore a great venue for such an important business event like our 37th INSOL Europe Congress. ‘Breaking the Chains’, the theme of our Congress is truly fitting for Greece. The resilience, the calm and the strength of the Greek nation helped them overcome their economic crisis. After all these difficult years, Greece’s economy is growing again! This is just one example of what our organisation’s professionals aim for: help nations after an economical decline to break the chains and prosper again.

Athens will be the perfect place for brainstorming, creating new connections, networking and meeting other like-minded professionals. After the Congress, what could be better than having a great conversation, in the Greek spirit, with a new friend, listening to some traditional Greek music, while enjoying a glass of wine and a 24 degrees weather! We look forward to seeing you there!

Download our Congress flyer.

Visit our website for further information and details of our Technical Programme.

Look out for more information coming soon.

In the last few decades the promotion of a corporate rescue culture has been a key objective for many EU jurisdictions, but particularly since the 2008 financial crisis, corporate rescue has been at the top of the agenda. 

Although the significance of corporate rescue is not to be underestimated, it can be argued that consumer bankruptcy carries no less significance.

The adverse impact of consumer bankruptcy has been intensely experienced at very large scales in countries like Greece and Cyprus. However, as opposed to the sporadic attempts that were made in the shadow of the financial crisis in Greece, Cyprus appears to have approached both corporate and consumer reorganisation in a more methodical manner and has noticeably placed greater emphasis on laying the foundations of a strong second-chance culture. 

Alexandra Kastrinou, Senior Lecturer, Nottingham Law School (UK) looks at the steps taken in Cyprus to improve the position of consumer debtors and offers a brief overview of the recently introduced legislative framework, which is now bedding into use following the introduction of an Interactive Reorganisation Tool and accompanying Guide in January 2018. Read the full Inside Story and other articles here.

If you would like the opportunity to have your Inside Story published in a future edition, please email Communicatons Manager, Paul Newson for details.

The Lexis Nexis INSOL Europe European Insolvency Regulation Case Register contains summaries of 640 judgments so far, from the CJEU and first instance and appeal courts of the EU Member States, that consider a significant point relating to the EC Regulation on Insolvency or, from 26 June 2017 onwards, the Recast Regulation. Indeed, with EC case law, decisions of the CJEU bind all Member States, though where the CJEU has given limited guidance on a particular area, courts may look to decisions of other courts in the Member States for guidance, although they will not be binding.

As it will take some months for the first case(s) on the Recast Regulation to reach the EU Court of Justice, practitioners will be very interested in how other Member States across the EU are dealing with the new wording in the Recast Regulation.

7 abstracts of key judgments delivered from 26 June 2017 onwards from Gibraltar, Germany, The Netherlands and Scotland applying the Recast Regulation on Insolvency 2015/848 are already uploaded on the Lexis Nexis INSOL Europe’s European Insolvency Regulation Case Register platform here.

Ancestral home of democracy and birthplace of law as an institution unto itself in the writings of Aristotle and his contemporaries, what better place than Athens, Greece for the annual INSOL Europe Academic Forum conference on “Party Autonomy and Third-Party Protection in Insolvency Law” on 3-4 October 2018? Situated inland from the Saronic Gulf connecting to the Aegean Sea in the centre of the Cephesian Plain, Athens is one of the world’s oldest cities and can claim some of the most iconic ancient ruins on the planet, providing excellent opportunities for both pre- and post-conference explorations.

The conference theme is designed to provide the opportunity to challenge existing approaches, stimulate debate, and ask profound questions about a range of issues within contract law, property law, company law and private international law connected to insolvency law. 

These scintillating topics will help the audience focus on and explore party autonomy and the impact on third parties of these areas closely related to insolvency law. Further information can be found in the Call for Papers issued in January.

For those keen to come to Athens, there is still time to consider submitting a proposal. Proposals are invited that do more than just outline a topic of interest in respect of any given jurisdiction, but seek to understand, analyse and critique the fundamentals of insolvency law and take the subject forward. Papers that have a comparative and/or an empirical angle are particularly welcome. And of course, members of the Younger Academics Network of Insolvency Law are invited to submit papers on the above-mentioned topics or to present in the dedicated YANIL session. For those fulfilling the criteria, travel grants are also available to assist attendance and can be accessed at the Academic Forum webpages.

Expressions of interest and applications should be sent to Anthon Verweij.

The Academic Forum is pleased to announce the generous support of Edwin Coe LLP.

All members of INSOL Europe are entitled to the membership benefits of INSOL International, a world-wide federation of national associations of accountants and lawyers who specialise in turnaround and insolvency. Their latest Press Releases and Quarterly Reports are published on our website here.