This email contains images, if you are having trouble reading this email? View it in your browser.

June 2019: Conference News & Updates

Dear Members

June arrives, summer is here at last… and, of course, it is raining heavily in London!

The last month has been really busy for INSOL Europe with a successful joint conference with INSOL International held in Stockholm. We had close to 100 attendees from the Nordic region and some interesting debate on the impact of the Directive on Preventative Restructuring Frameworks and how ready those countries are for the changes to come.

Our 15th annual EECC conference was held in Ljubljana on 6-7 June and, thanks to some fantastic local support from ZUS, managed to attract almost 200 practitioners. There was further discussion on the Directive as it had been enacted the day before the conference. We hope that we will also find some new Slovenian members in the process and will shortly be able to announce the Slovenian country co-ordinator.

Lastly, on the conference front, we held our inaugural joint seminar with AIJA, the global young lawyers’ association, in Majorca from 13-15 June. Over 80 people attended, and the event was a great success, one which our Young Members Group have done a great job in championing. I hope and expect that this will lead to further co-operation between the organisations in the future.

We have two further important topics to cover:

Council elections: Nominations for Council vacancies were invited earlier this week. Please do put yourself forward if you want to get involved.

Annual Congress, Sorrento, Italy 2020: You will all know how important our Annual Congress is for INSOL Europe but also for you our members. We believe that each year we need to improve what we offer. I know it is hard to believe but we are already thinking about the technical content for that event and I would ask you to make suggestions for topics or issues you would like to cover and we will endeavour to try and include them as we continue to raise the bar on our flagship event.

Enjoy Wimbledon, it must be soon given the weather!

Alastair Beveridge
President of INSOL Europe

Alastair Beveridge
President of
INSOL Europe

This issue is kindly sponsored by:

DLA Piper is a global law
firm with lawyers located
in more than 40 countries throughout the world.
www.dlapiper.com

Ljubljana: City of love, and dragons(!) welcomes 200 delegates

Slovenia, one of the smaller Members of the European Union, played host for the first time to the EECC event in Ljubljana on Friday 7 June. Accompanied by a sudden climb of the thermometer and fair weather, the conference welcomed almost 200 delegates, many of these drawn from the local practice environment. Paul Omar reports for INSOL Europe.

After a convivial welcome dinner on Thursday evening at the newly renovated castle, the conference began the following day with a welcome address from Alastair Beveridge (President, INSOL Europe) and the Co-Chairs of the EECC Committee, Ewert Verwey and Radu Lotrean.

Setting the scene for the delegates, keynote speaker Professor Marco Simonetti (Faculty of Law, University of Ljubljana), outlined some of the legislative and economic history of the country. He included the surprising revelation that Slovenia could have followed the major Eurozone casualties (such as Spain and Greece) into a major default scenario.

The morning's technical sessions were set against the background of the adoption of the Preventive Restructuring Directive, news of which came as delegates were travelling to Slovenia on the eve of the conference. Other sessions focused on investor attitudes to insolvency, the use of new technology and case studies on recent airline insolvencies.

Rounding off the day, closing remarks by Radu Lotrean and Evert Verwey highlighted the success of the event in attracting a record number of attendees and speakers, thanks in no small part to the Slovenian local organisations, for enabling the event.

The day was concluded with the Young Members’ Drinks Meeting at the Terrace Bar of the Vanders Hotel in downtown Ljubljana, where revellers were gathering for Friday night conviviality on the river promenade with its outstanding views of the “beloved” city.

A full report will be published in the Summer edition of Eurofenix.

For photos from the event, visit the Event Gallery on our website.

AIJA / INSOL Europe Joint Seminar report

13-15 June saw the launch of the first joint seminar between AIJA (International Association of Young Lawyers) and INSOL Europe in Mallorca where participants were welcomed by Piya Mukherjee (Deputy President of INSOL Europe) and Wiebe de Wries (Immediate past President of AIJA).

More than 80 young insolvency professionals, mostly from Europe but also from the USA, Brazil, Malaysia and BVI, attended the seminar which dealt with various cross-border aspects of restructurings and insolvencies (please find the full programme here.)

From INSOL Europe’s side, the seminar was organized by the Young Members Group, represented by the co-chairs Anne BACH (GÖRG Rechtsanwälte, Germany) and Georges-Louis HARANG (HOCHE Avocats, France). “Our aim was to organize a seminar where young professionals not only participate but take an active role as speakers, panellists and moderators”, emphasizes Georges-Louis. This concept was apparently enthusiastically received by the young community as the organizing committee, following the call for speakers/panellists, received such a high amount of applications that not all applications could be accommodated. Also, participants showed high interest in the topics presented, resulting in lively discussions all along the seminar and intense exchange on occasion of the various events of the seminar, such as the Welcome Drinks & Dinner on Thursday evening, lunch and coffee breaks between technical sessions or the (optional) leisure programme on Saturday afternoon.

Besides the technical and professional exchange, the seminar’s aim also was to create an international networking platform exclusively for young professionals in the field of restructuring / insolvencies. “Our observation is, that restructurings and insolvencies become more and more international. Young professionals therefore need to exchange with colleagues from other jurisdictions and to build an international network, if they want to be successful”, Anne adds. The seminar brought together attendees from AIJA and from INSOL Europe’s Young Members Group and – considering the enthusiastic feedback the organizing committee received – more seminars in this format are to come, both co-chairs agree.

Stay tuned for a full report of the seminar in Eurofenix magazine soon as well as for updates on the next joint event for young professionals with AIJA! For further updates visit our Facebook and LinkedIn pages.

Sorrento Congress 2020: Call for Expressions of Interest

The Technical Committee for the INSOL Europe 2020 Congress, which will be held in Sorrento from 1 to 4 October 2020, invites all INSOL Europe members to express their interest to participate as speakers at our flagship event.

All expressions of interest should be sent to the Secretary to the INSOL Europe Conference Technical Committees, Emmanuelle Inacio, and should indicate:

the speaker’s nationality, affiliation and qualifications,
the topic on which the speaker would be interested in speaking, and
a short statement as to what unique or compelling perspective the speaker would like to bring to the congress.

The Technical Committee seeks in particular proposals from speakers who have not been speakers at the last two Annual Congresses.

Expressions of interest should be sent as early as possible, no later than 15 September 2019. All expressions of interest will be considered by the Technical Committee, although due to the large number the Committee expects to receive, the Committee likely will not be able to accommodate all, or even most, requests.

The Co-chairs of INSOL Europe’s 2020 Sorrento Congress, Giorgio Corno (Italy)
& Simeon Gilchrist (United Kingdom)

Special Offers for Members of INSOL Europe

We have arranged many special offers for our members, including exclusive discounts on publications and events as well as special rates for advertising in Eurofenix, our quarterly journal. These are often time limited and updated regularly on the Members Offers section of the website.

Offers are changed regularly and currently include:

20% discount off selected titles from Oxford University Press
10% discount off an individual subscription to Global Restructuring Review
A discounted 'Pro' profile on SpeakerHub

INSIDE Story: Anticipating the Directive in France

The Preventive Restructuring Directive was adopted recently on 6 June 2019 and now enters its transposition phase, during which member states will endeavour to ensure that its terms are transposed into national law. In France, the Loi Pacte has authorised the Government to legislate by means of an Ordinance, which it must do within 24 months of this law coming into force.

Once the Ordinance has been published, the Government must table before Parliament a draft law seeking to authorise the Ordinance within a further 4 months. In a recent piece published in Eurofenix, Jean-Luc Vallens, former Magistrate in France assesses the likely reception for the Directive in France and its impact on the law and practice there. Read the full 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.

Council Elections 2019: Nominations to be invited soon

This is the time of year when we consider retirements from and elections to our Council.

Countries with 30 or more members are entitled to a reserved seat on Council and in October this year, vacancies will arise for the following: Austria, Denmark, Ireland, The Netherlands, Romania and Switzerland. Therefore, members from these countries will shortly receive an email requesting nominations for candidates from their country.

In the meantime, two non-reserved seat vacancies on Council (which may be occupied by any country) will also become available and in addition, two further non-reserved seat vacancies will become available to allow for countries with under 30 members to be represented. Closing date for nominations: 21 July 2019.

Information about how to nominate a candidate has been sent to members on 25 June.

Annual Congress Copenhagen, Denmark: Register and save!

INSOL Europe
Annual Congress
Copenhagen, Denmark
26-29 September 2019

Register and save!

Don't forget to take advantage of the
early booking rates and secure your
place before 1 July.

Download the Congress Brochure
or Register Online Today!

Registration for this event is only available online.

R3 & INSOL Europe Joint Conference, London, 11 July

Cross-border restructuring: at a crossroads in the wake of Brexit?
This conference is an analysis of the “cutting edge” of the international restructuring sphere. The incredibly fast-paced and dynamic qualities of the sector mean we must adapt and change with it. Again and again this conference has proved that it is ahead of the curve, anticipating the upcoming trends in the market and providing detailed insight into them. This year will be no different. If you want to stay ahead of the game, attendance is a must. The conference is worth 8 CPD points.

The programme will include:

Detailed cross-border case studies of two of the most important cross-border cases of recent years, Agrokor and Steinhoff, from some of the key players in both.
A panel session on the NPL landscape, the new tools to weather it and the new players entering the market.
A panel session on the different approaches being taken in the UK and Europe in regard to pre-insolvency procedures and the potential for this to be a new battle ground.
An international line up of speakers to be announced...
PLUS: Complimentary drinks reception!

Visit the R3 website for further information or to register your place.

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

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

INSOL Europe, PO Box 7149, Clifton, Nottingham. NG11 6WD. Tel: +44 115 8780584

www.insol-europe.org

Unsubscribe from INSOL-Europe.org mailing.

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.