Alastair Beveridge
President of
INSOL Europe

On 12 November 2018, Giese & Partner organized the first INSOL Europe Lunch in Prague. 

Several insolvency law experts, liquidators and qualified attorneys from leading Czech law firms accepted the invitation to discuss the current status of the EU Directive Proposal.

INSOL Europe's President, Alastair Beveridge, gave the welcome address and introduced the association and its activities.
Keynote speaker Nicolaes Tollenaar presented a lively analysis on the Proposal in respect to “debtor-friendly” and “creditor-friendly” systems. His analysis was clearly that the first ones hinder whereas the latter ones facilitate business rescues.

A full report by Ernst Giese (right),
can be found on our website
in the News section.

All attendees shared their opinions, suggestions for consideration and exchanged their professional experience across borders. Tomáš Richter from Clifford Chance (Czech Republic) brought to the discussion his practical knowledge, pointing out the fact that there is good and modern legislation focusing on insolvency in the Czech Republic, but the judicial application is very inconsistent in quality.

Finally, the attendees suggested that regular meetings of the insolvency community in Prague will help to promote INSOL Europe in the Czech Republic.

Working Group V convened for its 54th session at Vienna from 10-14 December to deliberate on the final stages of the enterprise group texts and begin the next phase of the work on (Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises) MSMEs.

On enterprise groups, the deliberations focused on a line-by-line analysis of the draft Model Law addressing mechanisms for cross-border cooperation between courts and/or practitioners involved in the administration of insolvencies over members of such groups. The Guide to Enactment and accompanying provisions on the liability of directors of enterprise groups were also presented for agreement by the delegates. 

A full report by Florian Bruder
and Paul Omar will be published
in the Spring edition of Eurofenix.

The debate over MSMEs was largely focused on suggesting ways of how recommendations in the UNCITRAL Legislative Guide on Insolvency Law could be more specifically targeted to the particular situation of MSMEs. Much of the debate centred on options open to enterprises, the eligibility criteria for proceedings as well as the mechanisms for commencing procedures as well as rights of access for particular stakeholders, especially creditors. The initiative on MSMEs is likely to generate more work in the future, which may be revisited at future meetings.

The insolvency case of Dalnyaya Step LLC (Dalnyaya Step, debtor) is well known both in Russia and abroad, particularly in the United Kingdom.

It is unique for several reasons. First of all, the case spans across a decade, having started in 2006, closed in 2007 and reopened in 2015 (still pending). Secondly, the Russian insolvency proceedings were first recognized in the UK in 2016, only to have the recognition order set aside ab initio in 2017 on public policy grounds. 

Thirdly, in August 2018, the Russian Supreme Court refused to approve the settlement agreement reached between the liquidator of Dalnyaya Step and HSBC Bank LLC (HSBC Bank), a Russian entity affiliated with HSBC Bank PLC, and found the latter liable for the debtor’s insolvency with liability exceeding EUR 16 million.

This Inside Story by Ilya Kokorin (of Counsel, Buzko and Partners, Russia) will analyse this recent decision of the Russian Supreme Court and describe the potential risks it entails for members of corporate groups and banks serving their interests in Russia. 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 Communications Manager, Paul Newson for details.

The proposal to review the CoCo Guidelines initiated in Summer 2017 led to the formation of a Working Group later that year to consider the development of a new and updated version of the rules first adopted in 2007. Under the stewardship of Paul Omar (INSOL Europe/De Montfort University) and Tomáš Richter (Clifford Chance LLP/Charles University), the Working Group has brought together representatives of academia, judiciary and practice belonging to both INSOL Europe and CERIL (Conference of European Restructuring and Insolvency Law, www.ceril.eu). With the assistance of the Review Group, containing a wider number of similarly qualified professionals and reflective of a greater range of jurisdictions across Europe, an initial survey of ideas for areas of focus took place in Spring 2018. The survey was intended to result in the formation of parameters that would inform the drafting process, in particular those following from the Recast EIR which came into force in June 2017. Presentations on some of the outcomes of the survey took place at the Judicial Wing and Main conferences in Athens in October 2018.

The Working Group anticipates beginning the re-drafting process in early 2019. Aiming for that target, the membership of the Review Group has been widened to ensure a better reflection of practice, while the framework for consultation on the draft will be improved to capture as many views as are feasible. Having said this, the project would benefit from inclusion of further voices from the judiciary: expressions of interest in the work of the Review Group from the insolvency benches across the EU are warmly encouraged, for which please contact the authors.

It is hoped that the tentative outcomes of the redrafting exercise will be presented to the membership at Copenhagen 2019. Regular updates on progress will appear in Eurofenix or the monthly newsletters.

Carmel is an Associate Director at Grant Thornton UK LLP. She has ten years’ experience in fraud investigations, complex contentious insolvency, asset tracing and recovery. Carmel focusses on cases involving the investigation of fraud or corruption, asset tracing, and gathering evidence to be used in litigation to recover misappropriated assets across different jurisdictions. She has published several articles on fraud and asset recovery. She has experience working in the public and private sectors, having taken instruction from government departments and local authorities in the UK, non-UK governments, and international companies and law firms.   

In 2019 and beyond, Bart and Carmel will be focussed on raising the profile of the Anti-Fraud Forum and developing links with the other INSOL Europe working groups and similar professional organisations. A consultation with members will be circulated in the New Year. Find out more about the Anti-Fraud Forum on our website here.