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Dear Members
It has been almost 12 months since I took over the reins of INSOL Europe from my colleague from Ireland, Barry Cahir, and what a year it's been!
Therefore, this will be my last introduction to the newsletter as President before I pass the baton to Alice van der Schee from the Netherlands, effective from the end of the Annual Congress in Sorrento.
I am delighted to say that we will have another (almost!) record attendance conference, with delegates reaching the 460 mark, only a dozen short of the tally in Amsterdam. I hope some latecomers will allow us to get even closer!
Our sponsors' generous support also allowed us to keep our association healthy.
This will ensure another vibrant conference with the best opportunity of the year to meet your colleagues from INSOL Europe and worldwide, not just Europe.
It has been a great honor to be your President and see the association grow with new members, now standing at over 1350, many of them young. The association will begin its new journey into the future with our Strategic Plan for 2025-2030, which we will launch in Sorrento. This plan will ensure that the association continues to grow and meet the needs of its members.
This month's newsletter contains important updates about INSOL Europe's work and how your input can shape the profession, both through the UNIDROIT consultation and our own member survey.
There are statistics from Belgium, an Inside Story from Estonia and news of future events... read on, sign up, and I will see you soon.
Giorgio Corno
President, INSOL Europe
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Giorgio Corno
President of
INSOL Europe
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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
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Member Survey: INSOL Europe and Advocacy |

Click Here to take part in our 1-minute survey!
As part of our ongoing research to shape our goals and strategy for the coming years, we will be asking our members a few brief questions each month on various topics.
This month our question is: How do you perceive the role of INSOL Europe in promoting and advocating for the insolvency and restructuring profession within the industry and to external stakeholders?
The survey takes just one minute, but your feedback can make a significant difference. Please click the link above to share your thoughts!
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UNIDROIT Consultation on Bank Liquidation |

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The International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT) has launched a consultation on its Draft Legislative Guide on Bank Liquidation. The Draft Legislative Guide has been developed by the Working Group on Bank Insolvency, a group of international experts from different legal systems, as part of the Bank Insolvency Project conducted by UNIDROIT in cooperation with the BIS Financial Stability Institute.
The aim of the Draft Legislative Guide is to assist legislators and policymakers in designing effective bank liquidation regimes tailored to the special nature of banks and their role in society. The Guide focuses on “non-systemic banks”, thereby complementing existing international standards. Specifically, it provides guidance on frameworks for the orderly liquidation of (i) banks that are not placed under a resolution procedure compatible with the FSB Key Attributes, and (ii) parts of a bank following, or in the context of, a resolution action.
INSOL Europe has been invited by the Secretary-General of UNIDROIT, Prof. Ignacio Tirado (who will be speaking at both our Academic Conference and our Annual Congress in Sorrento), to give any feedback on the Draft Legislative Guide on Bank Liquidation, given its members’ expertise in this area. Possible comments may be submitted to the UNIDROIT Secretariat.
The consultation runs until 11 October 2024. All information regarding the consultation, including the text of the Draft Legislative Guide itself, is available on the dedicated consultation webpage.
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Focus on INSOL Europe's EU Study Group |
The mission of INSOL Europe is to take and maintain a leading role in European business recovery, turnaround and insolvency issues, to facilitate the exchange of information and ideas amongst its members and to discuss business recovery, turnaround and insolvency issues with those who are affected by those procedures.
The association also encourages greater international co-operation and communication within Europe and also with the rest of the world. To that end, INSOL Europe gathers academics, judges, lawyers and insolvency practitioners from the European Union and beyond.
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Within INSOL Europe, the EU Study Group, led by INSOL Europe past-president Barry Cahir (Ireland), is composed of a research team on comparative law, a majority of whose members are regular attendees at meetings organised by official European and other international bodies (e.g. UNCITRAL’s bi-annual meetings).
Visit the EU Study Group's pages on our website for further information to get involved in the work of the group.
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Renew your Membership and enjoy these Benefits
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Visit our website for more details or contact Hannah Denney.
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National Insolvency Statistics Update: Belgium |
In 2023, the number of bankruptcies recorded in Belgium was 10,243. This represents an increase of 11% compared to 2022 and the third highest result in the last ten years, write the Strelia Insolvency & Restructuring team (Brussels, Belgium): Bart De MOOR (INSOL Europe Country Coordinator), Marine CALLEBAUT, Sofie ONDERBEKE and Denajda BAJRAKTARI.
During the first six months of 2024, Belgium recorded 5,815 bankruptcies.
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Compared with previous years, the number of bankruptcies until June 2024 represents an increase of 9.4% compared with 2023 and an increase of 17.5% compared to 2019. These 5,815 bankruptcies led to the loss of 17,633 jobs.
Trend in the monthly number of bankruptcies in Belgium since January 2022

In 2024, the number of bankruptcies recorded in Belgium is a record in two sectors of activity: (i) construction industry with 1.342 bankruptcies that represent 18.3% more than in 2023 which was the previous record; (ii) transport and storage where 371 bankruptcies were recorded, 5.7% more than the previous record in 2023.
In 2023 there is a return to a ‘normal’ number of bankruptcies, similar to the annual statistics prior to the Covid-19 period and energy crisis. The measures taken by the government to deal with the aforementioned crises have resulted in a significant reduction in the number of bankruptcies: in 2020, 7,203 bankruptcies were recorded, representing a reduction of 32.0% compared to 2019, when 10,598 bankruptcies were recorded. An all-time low of 6,533 bankruptcies was recorded in 2021.
As for the reorganisation proceedings, 838 petitions were filed in 2017 to enterprise courts to request the opening of reorganisation proceedings.
The recent legislative changes in Belgian insolvency law due to the transposition of the European directive 2019/1023 will undoubtedly have an impact on the number of insolvency proceedings in the next years, as they expand the various reorganisation proceedings by adding the possibility to apply for private reorganisation proceedings and to silently prepare a bankruptcy (the so-called ‘prepack’).
Sources: StatBel, Graydon, Onem, annual statistics from courts and tribunals
Further statistics from Belgium and other jurisdictions can be found on our website here.
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INSIDE Story: Cross-Border Transaction Avoidance in Estonia |
The Estonian Court declared the bankruptcy of Aktsiaselts METUS-EST (register code 10195826) on 5 July 2023. The Swedish court declared the bankruptcy of MetuSweden AB (register code 556843-1281) on 2 August 2023. MetuSweden AB is 100% Aktsiaselts METUS-EST daughter company.
The Swedish bankruptcy trustee of MetuSweden AB was of the opinion that payments made to the Estonian mother company Aktsiaselts METUS-EST before the declaration of the bankruptcy in the total sum of SEK 18,044,311 are subject to transaction avoidance rules according to Swedish bankruptcy law.
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The Estonian bankruptcy trustee of Aktsiaselts METUS-EST was of the opinion that, even if these payments are subject to the Swedish transaction avoidance rules, the same payments are not avoidable under Estonian transaction avoidance rules. Nevertheless, as the Recast European Insolvency Regulation 2015 (EIR Recast) applies, the outcome of the case may be fascinating, albeit an interesting fact that the Estonian and Swedish transaction avoidance rules are very similar, not to say identical, as the law used as the model for Estonian transaction avoidance rules was Swedish law.
Read the full story here by Anto Kasak, Partner, Kasak and Lepikson Law Firm; Lecturer, Tartu University, Estonia.
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Richard Turton Award Winner 2024 |
The Richard Turton Award Panel is pleased to announce that the 2024 winner is Emily Onyango from Kenya.
Emily is an Insolvency Professional, Advocate of the High Court of Kenya, Governance Auditor, Certified Secretary and Certified Professional Mediator. She is currently a Consultant at Adili Group, an affiliate of Africa Legal Network, where she advises clients on business restructuring, distress, and recovery.
Emily will be writing a paper on “Financing Corporate Rescue in Kenya: The Case for a Corporate Rescue Fund”, which will be published in summary in one or more of the supporting Associations' journals and in full on their websites.
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As part of the award, Ms Onyango is invited to attend the INSOL Europe conference in Sorrento, Italy in October.
The panel adjudicating this year’s applications was made up of Barry Cahir, INSOL Europe Immediate Past President; Neil Cooper, INSOL International; Nicky Fisher, R3 and Yin Lee, IPA.
We would like to congratulate Emily on her excellent application, and also thank all the candidates who applied for the award this year and wish them a successful career in their chosen field.
Full details of the Turton Award and papers of the previous winners can be found on our website.
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Annual Congress, Sorrento - Almost time! |


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It is now only a few days until our Annual Congress in Sorrento, preceded by our Academic Conference. With over 500 delegates attending our flagship events and the many side meetings and social opportunities, yet again this will prove to be the event of the year!
Register today if you haven't already booked your place, and don't miss out!
Find out more and register here:
Annual Congress / Academic Forum Conference
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INSOL Europe & ABI Joint International Insolvency Symposium |

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ABI and INSOL Europe are pleased to bring you the 2024 International Insolvency and Restructuring Symposium, being held at The Biltmore Mayfair in the prestigious Mayfair district of London from 27-29 October 2024. Experience two full days of stellar programming on worldwide insolvency developments, all in one of the most influential cities in the world.
INSOL Europe is providing two 1-hour panels for this conference:
- The European Commission’s proposal for a directive harmonising certain aspects of insolvency law from the perspective of the EU, UK & US - Panel leader: Barry Cahir, Beauchamps, Ireland; Immediate past-president of INSOL Europe
- Geopolitical impact on restructuring market - Panel leader: Frank Tschentscher, Deloitte, Germany; past-president of INSOL Europe
Panellists for both sessions will be from the US, UK and EU.
Visit the event website for further information and to register your place.
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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
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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. |
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