Dear Members

Welcome to the October edition of the INSOL Europe Newsletter. I am sure you will find it, as always, a very good read providing you with updates on the happenings in the world of restructuring and insolvency across Europe.

Autumn has been a long time coming and as the days become shorter and with the world still struggling to recover from the devastating effects of the COVID-pandemic, it may appear for many that we will go straight to winter. However, I take comfort in the words of German writer Theodor Storm: “Clouds gather, treetops toss and sway; But pour us wine, an old one! That we may turn this dreary day, To golden, yes, to golden! Autumn has come, but never fear, Wait but a little while yet, Spring will be here, the skies will clear, And fields stand deep in violets.”

It may feel as if every new day in 2021 is Groundhog Day, whereby the common theme is COVID (with the US election and the continuing Brexit saga close runners up). However, as I have said during my acceptance speech at the Ordinary General Meeting on 6 October 2021, I do not want to dwell too much on the dark days of the past two years but instead want to remain focused on optimistic prospects and share my conviction that we will not be beaten by COVID. The bonds which have been forged in adversity have only served to intensify our relationships with one another. We have faced the challenges we were – and are – faced with and adapted. As we now begin to emerge from the other side of this crisis, we do so as a stronger and more coherent organisation. 

Looking ahead now, we see that the European Commission is contemplating further legislation to harmonise insolvency regimes and rules in the Member States and we will liaise closely with the Commission and other EU officials to offer advice and assistance – maybe training – so as to strengthen our position as THE European organisation of restructuring and insolvency professionals. Together with Barry Cahir as Deputy President, Giorgio Corno as our new Vice President, the Council and the entire INSOL Europe staff, I am committed to delivering first-class content, lectures and networking opportunities so that you feel that you are getting the fullest value for your membership. We set off on that journey by delivering the first session of our Autumn Online Conference which was yet again high class. I should like to extend my deepest gratitude to all involved and to our sponsors who have remained so loyal and supportive in these challenging times. Should you have missed the conference, recordings of the sessions will be published for members in the coming weeks and if you have not done so already, I encourage you to register for the next and final session on 21 October. It offers a fantastic program and will be well worth your time. 

The next step on our "return to normal" will be celebrating our organisation’s 40th anniversary with all of you in Dublin in March 2022. We have chosen the theme and title “Back to the Future 2" for our Congress, primarily as a reference to the EU Directive on Restructuring and Insolvency and the status of the implementation process in the various jurisdictions but also as a tribute to you, our members, for your remarkable capacity to adjust and evolve and meet the various challenges of the past two years with extraordinary resilience and creativity. Our programme is broad and diverse indeed and features fantastic panels and presentations that will bring you up to speed on the latest trends and developments in our rapidly changing profession and take you [back] to the future indeed. I am very much looking forward to it and to seeing all of you in Dublin to celebrate our organisation’s anniversary and the unshakeable bonds between us suitably. 

In this edition, we are focussing on the wide variety of events that our members can attend in the next few months - all online, until our Annual Congress returns in person in Dublin - you can find out more below and make sure you don't miss out!

I recommend that you take some time - maybe over a cup of coffee (or tea) - to read the collection of pieces in this month's edition. I do not think you will regret it. 

In closing, I hope wherever you are reading this, you are staying safe and well.

Frank Tschentscher
President 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

Set your alarm for our next EECC Online Conference:

A Wake-up Call for Sleepy Companies?

16:25 CET, Thursday 25 November 2021 

Many articles and experts forecast a rising tide of insolvencies in Europe given all we have been through in the past year and, it’s more than understandable. We were used to seeing insolvency following somewhat regular patterns, and following 2009, we learned to spot a crisis.

Just imagine having the ability to send a message to yourself from January 2020 – but nothing too specific as to not disturb the axis of time – what would you even say? Buy stock in pharma companies? That would be too obvious and most surely go against time travel regulation.

Where to even begin? More has changed in the last 18 months than in the previous ten years put together. We have a pandemic, with its everchanging variant, fleeting state aid, whole industries on the brink of collapsing while others flourish unexpectedly and a restructuring Directive being dragged through parliaments for transposition.

Once, we had the luxury of certainty. Given the same data set, we persisted in the belief that everyone would draw the same conclusion and, moreover, that we could see the future, as though reason operated according to an obligatory physics, like the optics of an eye. At the beginning of that year, we were once certain that we could see, in broad strokes, how it was going to play out. Now, uncertainty is all we have, and it freed us; it made room for possibilities and new strategies – for growth, pushing us forward. Now, all we have are plans a, b, c, and so on.

This is the painful beginning of the new restructuring. We invite you to discuss together scenarios and plans on Thursday, 25 November from 16:25 CET for a two-hour EECC session - A wake-up call for sleepy companies? Will there be a growing army of zombie companies? Are we ready? Are the tides changing? What about Poland, Czech Republic and Bulgaria? Have airlines reached a survival at any cost point? 

So join us online from the comfort of your home/office in this journey to embrace uncertainty in these new exciting times!

Further information
The latest updates will be posted on our website when available. If you have any queries in the meantime, please contact the Secretary to the EECC, Niculina Somlea.

Kindly sponsored by

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.

Richard Turton had a unique role in the formation and management of INSOL Europe,
INSOL International, the English Insolvency Practitioners Association and R3, the Association of Business Recovery Professionals in the UK. In recognition of his achievements, these four organisations jointly created an award in memory of Richard. This award for the best paper will be presented at the INSOL Europe Congress in Dublin, 3-6 March 2022.

The award is open to applicants who fulfil the following criteria:

• is a national of a developing or emerging market country;
• works in or studies in the field of insolvency & restructuring law and practice*;
• is under 35 years of age.

The successful applicant will:

• Be invited to attend the INSOL Europe Congress in Dublin, Ireland, 3-6 March 2022 all expenses paid.
• Write a paper of 3,000 words on a subject of insolvency or turnaround agreed with the panel. This paper will be published in summary in one or more of the four Member Associations' journals and in full on their websites.
• Be recognised at the Congress and receive a framed certificate of the Richard Turton Award.

Application deadline: 1 December 2021

If you fulfil the application criteria and are able to meet the application requirements, you are invited to apply by sending your CV, a 200-word statement outlining why you should be chosen, and the title of your proposed paper with a brief synopsis* to Harriet.Norman@insol.org 

Applications will be adjudicated by a panel representing the four associations. Their decision will be made by 4 January 2022 to allow the successful applicant to co-ordinate their attendance with INSOL Europe. 

* Full terms and conditions on our website.

The Autumn edition of Eurofenix is now available to download, featuring reports and case studies on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic across Europe as well as many other articles including:

• Cryptocurrency fraud: The English Court considers (Carmel King)
• Towards harmonisation of transactions avoidance laws (Reinhard Bork)
• French pre-insolvency proceedings: A before and after the COVID period? (Georges-Louis Harang and Gaël Couturier)
• Rembrandt: Excellent artist, but also a structural troublemaker? (Bob Wessels)
• The Examinership of Norwegian Air Group (Ruairi Rynn and Rebecca Martyn)
• For great ills, great remedies! (Catarina Serra)
• Restructuring Stockmann, the iconic department store operator (Jyrki Tähtinen and Robert Peldán)
• US Column: Chapter 11 under fire (David H. Conaway)
• Conference News, Country Reports and more!

If you would like to contribute an article to a future edition or are interested in advertising opportunities, please contact publication manager Paul Newson.

Kindly sponsored by