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INSOL Europe news and offers
June 2021

Dear Members

On the brink of a warm and sunny summer season and hopeful as to further relaxations of the COVID-19 measures for larger parts of Europe, I am proud to present to you this June newsletter with information on INSOL Europe’s recent and upcoming activities. 

As I write this column, I look back at the first nine months of my presidency in which we successfully ran a lot of online events, living proof that INSOL Europe by now has fully adapted to the "new normal". 

The latest proof of this was the very lively Speed Networking Event on 17 June last, in which I joined several of you in entertaining break out sessions. Many thanks to Simeon Gilchrist (Edwin Coe) for being such a fantastic and humorous facilitator of this event. 

Given this success, the Executive has decided to make it a repetitive event, so for those of you who could not join on 17 June: there will be another opportunity to meet your fellow members and exchange experiences in the (near) future. 

For the young ones: on 2 September the Young Members Group will host a free online networking event, specifically targeting our young members, and allowing each of them to invite a young non-member to participate in this event and be introduced to the INSOL Europe family. I encourage all young members to bring along a colleague. We only have 100 places to fill up, so do not wait too long with registering and check this newsletter for more details.

Please also check out the latest video in our Coffee Break Video Series, presenting high quality footage from Denmark.

This month new council elections will take place and I am proud to be able to inform you that Belgium has now passed the 30 members threshold and will be entitled to a reserved seat on council as from the OGM in October onwards. Congratulations to our Belgian colleagues and the Executive and Council look forward to welcoming your representative in October.

Preparations for our Autumn Online Conference on 7 and 21 October 2021 and the Annual Congress in Dublin in March 2022 are in an advanced stage and the program promises to be exciting.

Finally, the Insolvency Tech & Digital Assets Wing will launch a brand-new initiative: setting up a worldwide Digital Assets Case Register, which will provide a sum up of cases and judgements concerning digital assets. You will find more details on this exciting new project and all other INSOL Europe's initiatives in this newsletter. 

A big thank you to all those who contributed to all INSOL Europe activities in the last nine months and to this newsletter. Please check out INSOL Europe’s website to stay up to date with our initiatives.

I wish you all a fantastic Summer and hope that by early September most of the COVID-19 restrictions will have been lifted. Until then, do remain careful while you are tanning at southern beaches and enjoying nice cocktails. Please stay safe and healthy!    

Marcel Groenewegen
President INSOL Europe

 

 

Marcel Groenewegen
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.
www.dlapiper.com

Young Members Group Speed Networking Event - Register Today!

At our last speed networking event we were overwhelmed by the turnout of the session and the feedback. This hour went by in a heartbeat and it was your success that it was so much fun to see old and new friends. Therefore, we want to re-group again. This time however, with the goal to make even more new friends for the YMG. 

With this in mind, the next YMG-Speed Networking event stands under the motto “expanding the horizon and making new friends” for us and for INSOL Europe. So when you join this time we would ask you to invite one of your colleagues or friends that is not yet a member of INSOL Europe to join you and us

This event follows on from our last networking event held on 17 June, sponsored and facilitated by Simeon Gilchrist of Edwin Coe, which included a competition for a bottle of bubbly. This evening was also well attended and judging by the feedback the attendees thoroughly enjoyed it. You can watch a short video of the evening here to see what you missed!

Visit our website for full details and to register your place.

Kindly sponsored by:

New Coffee Break Videos Published

Our Coffee Breaks: Connecting Minds 2021 series continues with our popular video conversation format established in 2020. 

This year, the INSOL Europe Country Coordinators will share their experiences with representatives from their local associations, highlighting the reforms and challenges of the national insolvency framework to address the current crisis and other key issues in their jurisdiction.

The latest video from Denmark can be seen here alongside Croatia, Italy, Luxembourg, Russia, Latvia, Portugal, Finland and France.

Coffee Breaks: Connecting Minds 2021 are brought to you in partnership with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and its Legal Transition Programme (LTP). The LTP is the EBRD’s initiative to contribute to the improvement of the investment climate in the Bank’s countries of operations by helping create an investor-friendly, transparent and predictable legal environment. This objective is implemented by the Legal Transition Team, a dedicated team of specialised lawyers working across the 38 economies where the EBRD invests.

If you would like to sponsor a Coffee Break video in 2021, please contact Hannah Denney, Sponsorship Manager, for details.

Watch the latest videos here

 

In partnership with:

Council Elections 2021 - Your nominations are invited 

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 seats: Belgium, France, Spain and Ireland.

Therefore, members from these countries will have received an email requesting nominations for candidates from their country. 

In the meantime, one non-reserved seat vacancy on Council (which may be occupied by any country) will also become available. 

To find out about the role of Council Members, please read the attached document.

If you have not yet received email notification of the election process, please contact Membership Manager Hannah Denney.

Benefits of INSOL Europe Membership

  • Discounted rates for our conferences and online events
  • Free access to our Web series – Coffee Breaks: Connecting Minds 2021
  • Free digital copies of publications in the INSOL Europe Technical Series including "The European Communication & Cooperation Guidelines for Cross-Border Insolvency."
  • Free copies of Eurofenix, INSOL Europe's popular quarterly journal
  • Discounted advertising rates for you and your business in Eurofenix
  • Opportunities to join working groups, write articles for our newsletters and website
  • Weekly emails with top European insolvency news items
  • Access to the INSOL Europe European Insolvency Regulation Case Register now hosted by LexisNexis
  • Access to a tracker of insolvency reforms globally produced by Lexis Nexis in partnership with INSOL Europe
  • Privileged website access to password protected members' areas which includes:
    • Glossaries of Terms relevant to insolvency laws of most European countries
    • A downloadable version of the Membership Database
    • Material from the Eastern European Countries' Committee
    • Current edition of Eurofenix in PDF format
    • Forthcoming papers by the Academic Forum
    • INSOL Europe's Financial Statements
  • Discounted rate for the INSOL International conferences
  • Discount of 25% off INSOL International’s Foundation Certificate in International Insolvency Law
  • Free copies of INSOL International's quarterly newsletter, "INSOL World", together with their annual Membership Directory and technical releases.
Visit our website for more details or contact Membership Manager, Hannah Denney.

 

INSIDE Story: UNCITRAL > Simplified Insolvency Regime for MSEs

The last year has laid bare the weaknesses of many modern market economies to guard against the financial and social costs of a health crisis that has driven the global marketplace nearly to a standstill.

Emergency measures covering everything from furlough schemes for workers unable to perform their job due to workplace closures to adjustments to some of the more draconian aspects of insolvency procedures, such as filing obligations, were introduced and have been steadily extended through the now extensive period of the pandemic.

Some of the hardest hit businesses have been those of small and micro sizes (MSEs). In addition, the many shared responses to the crisis such as the isolation of populations, travel bans, and limits placed on indoor and outdoor gatherings have potentially changed the perspective of individuals going forward. Who knows what long-term impact this crisis will have on the behaviours of consumers in particular within the global marketplace? Read the full article here by Dr Jennifer L. L. Gant (INSOL Europe Delegate to UNCITRAL WG-V).

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

NEW: Worldwide Digital Assets Case Register launched

A new Worldwide Digital Assets Case Register is being launched to provide a summary of cases and judgements concerning digital assets which will be useful for all insolvency specialists. Special thanks go to the contributors of the project for the work they have provided on this database so far: Emmanuelle Iniacio, Lee Pascoe, Ilya Korkorin, Jose Carles, David Orsula and Laurent Le Pajolec.

To see the register and find out how to contribute, visit: 
www.insol-europe.org/worldwide-digital-assets-case-register

 

European Commission's Experts' Group Update

In Quest of a Harmonisation: Tilting at Windmills?
Report by Myriam Mailly (Technical Officer) and Paul Omar (Technical Research Coordinator)

After finishing work on the Preventive Restructuring Directive (PRD) in 2019, the European Commission’s Experts’ Group in Restructuring and Insolvency (ECEG) resumed its work after a long hiatus in April 2021. This time, it is looking at new proposals for possible greater convergence in substantive insolvency law that have been floated in the wake of an outline impact assessment (December 2020) and a subsequent public consultation (open till April 2021).

Prompted by the Capital Markets Union (CMU) Action Plan and realisation of the internal market significance of insolvency law fragmentation arising from studies during the PRD development phase, the difference in insolvency outcomes is seen as a strong factor in investment decisions and a barrier to cross-border investments. As such, it has been felt necessary to examine whether further convergence or harmonisation can be attempted. A further study and impact assessment will be commissioned to confirm these findings as work progresses.

The role of the ECEG is to look at sensitive core aspects of insolvency law (often intertwined with other key aspects of domestic law) and to determine what might be possible for harmonisation. A “rich bouquet” of different issues has already been identified as possible targets during impact assessment, including some substantive topics, some procedural issues and some capacity building elements (including developing court and IOH capacity). In terms of a substantive approach, the ECEG is to work on outlining a variety of possible outcomes, ranging from the extent of harmonisation desired to the type of text that might embody the findings of the group.

Over the course of 2021, the plan is for the ECEG to meet 7 times with the ultimate endpoint scheduled for 2022 Q2. The ECEG is working via sub-groups (clusters) tasked with formulating recommendations on procedural issues, ranking of claims, asset-tracing, avoidance actions, directors’ liability, IOH qualifications and judicial training. The 3 meetings that have already occurred (12 April, 10 May and 22 June) have produced recommendations that are currently being examined by the European Commission.

 

Best Practice Guidelines for Judicial Cooperation Published
Best Practices Guidelines for Judicial Cooperation in EU Cross-Border Insolvency Proceedings have been publishedreports Myriam Mailly (INSOL Europe Technical Officer)
 
The guidelines aim at providing some substantial and procedural guidance to those professionals under the duty to communicate and coordinate insolvency proceedings in the context of the EU Regulation 2015/848 of 20 May 2015. In particular, these guidelines promote non-binding best practices in terms of cooperation and coordination between courts themselves and between courts and insolvency practitioners appointed in main and/or secondary insolvency proceedings, including in case of corporate groups.
 
These guidelines remain also the objectives and the main provisions of the European Insolvency Regulation Recast all taking into account other recently formulated standards in this area, including the INSOL Europe European Communication and Cooperation Guidelines for Cross-Border Insolvency (2007), the UNCITRAL Practice Guide on Cross-Border Insolvency Cooperation (2009), the UNCITRAL Model Law on Enterprise Group Insolvency with Guide to Enactment, Chapter 2 (2019), and other International Principles or Guidelines including those adopted by the International Insolvency Institute and the American Law Institute.
 
These guidelines were prepared by the Ecole Nationale de la Magistrature (ENM, France), in partnership with the Institut de Formation Judiciaire-Institut voor Gerechtelijke Opleiding (Belgium), the Consejo General del Poder Judicial-Escuela Judicial (CGPJ-EJ, Spain) and the Krajowa Szkoła Sądownictwa i Prokuratury (KSSIP, Poland) as part of the ‘EU cross-border insolvency proceedings: judicial inter-professional cooperation for an effective application of the recast EU insolvency Regulation’ Project (2019-2021).
 
This publication is also closely related to the professional training prepared by these training institutions and held in February and December 2020, with a view to facilitate the work of judges and practitioners dealing with such issues. The training was developed, in addition to the above actors, with the support of the French Conseil National des Administrateurs judiciaires et Mandataires judiciaires and was funded by the Justice Programme of the European Union (2014-2020).
 
Download the guidelines here in English, French, Polish and Spanish.
Date for your Diary - Coming Soon!

Registration for our next online event will be open soon, titled 'Back to the Future'.

The Technical Committee (Barry Cahir, Beauchamps, Ireland and Giorgio Corno, Studio Corno Avvocati, Italy) is currently working hard to confirm the programme which will feature panels on recognition and enforcement issues in the UK, the future of restructuring and insolvency professions and non-performing loans (all to be confirmed). 

We are pleased to announce that our facilitator will be Carmel King, (Grant Thornton, UK / Co-Chair of the Anti-Fraud Forum).

Further details will be added on our website soon, so watch this space!

 
 

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
www.insol-europe.org
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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.