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Dear Members
As I write this it is still January, surely the longest month of the year!
Happily, the pace will accelerate next month. The EU Group (currently comprising Florian Bruder, Adrian Thery, Robert Hänel and myself) is working on the EU harmonisation proposals, to include further direct engagement with the relevant personnel in the EU Commission. As part of that, I look forward to meeting representatives of the EU Commission in Brussels on 13 February and, with thanks to council member Bart De Moor, an association of Belgian insolvency practitioners.
I am in active and direct contact with all Council members and country co-ordinators, listening to views and opinions on how we can continue to enhance the membership experience. Council members and country co-ordinators in turn are forging links with local insolvency and restructuring organisations and exploring ways in which we can mutually benefit from further co-operation.
We had a virtual council meeting this month, with another meeting planned in March. I am very excited that our meeting in March will be in-person in my hometown of Malahide, County Dublin, where we will begin to plan for our organisation’s long term strategic objectives and initiatives. Do not hesitate to get in touch with me, your Council member or country co-ordinator with any useful suggestions or observations in this regard.
It will be interesting to see how the market for insolvency and restructuring services evolves over the coming year. In Ireland, my sense is that the longer the anticipated wave of insolvencies is staved off, the smaller the wave will be. Companies with warehoused Revenue debt have been permitted to keep that debt warehoused until Q1 2024, which will further defer things for some businesses.
As ever, the challenge is encourage companies to use that breathing space to implement a comprehensive restructuring plan and not just kick the can down the road. It was ever thus.
Barry Cahir
President, INSOL Europe
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Barry Cahir
President of
INSOL Europe
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This issue is kindly
sponsored by:
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| 2023 EECC Conference: Registration now open! |
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| Insolvency Portal in Lithuania: Pivotal Moment in Digitalization |
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Over the past few years, Lithuania has been paving the way to online insolvency proceedings, and a key milestone was reached on 2 January 2023 with the launch of the Insolvency Portal, which has taken the digitalization of insolvency processes a step further.
Indrė Vereniūtė, Chief specialist at the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Lithuania writes.
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By registering an account, insolvency practitioners will administer insolvencies, including out-of-court ones, almost completely online, whilst creditors will be able to conveniently access information and receive updates on the progress of the case. The Portal provides an array of useful functionalities such as uploading all the related documentation, administering creditors’ claims and insolvency estate’s assets. The Portal has a direct interface with the e-service portal of Lithuanian courts. Creditors meetings will be convened only through the Portal. The Insolvency Portal has opened up opportunities to manage insolvencies online allowing for faster and cheaper insolvency proceedings from beginning to closure.
The Portal is not the only measure towards more efficient insolvencies. Last September saw the introduction of the Insolvency Guide – an online platform aimed at reducing administrative burden for the companies in financial distress, especially SMEs to whom saving costs is a major concern. The Guide offers a tool for assessing insolvency risk, an interactive guide for completing a restructuring plan online and a variety of document templates.
Digitalization of insolvency processes did not happen overnight - rather it was implemented in incremental advances. From the possibility to apply for the opening of insolvency proceedings online to the electronic selection of insolvency practitioner and the electronic property auction system as well as online creditors’ meetings, Lithuania had been steadily digitalizing insolvency processes making them more transparent and accessible.
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| New Law proposed in Ukraine during Martial Law |
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Сurrently in Ukraine there are quite intense ongoing public discussions regarding the draft law ‘On Introduction of Amendments to the Bankruptcy Code of Ukraine as to Prevention of Abuses in the Sphere of Bankruptcy During Martial Law (No. 8231)’, writes Roman Marchenko of Ilyashev & Partners Law Firm, Ukraine.
The draft law stipulates for the introduction of a moratorium on the commencement of proceedings in bankruptcy cases under the statements of creditors with monetary claims that originated after 24 February 2022 and the suspension of proceedings in cases initiated after 24 February 2022.
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The authors of the draft law are convinced that its adoption will make it possible to save the production and business potential of Ukraine during the state of martial law.
In December 2022, the Committee of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on Ukraine’s integration into the European Union published a conclusion, according to which the mentioned draft law does not contradict the terms of the Association Agreement between the EU, Ukraine, the European Atomic Energy Community and their member states, taking into account its temporary nature and considering for the introduction of martial law in Ukraine.
However, the professional community negatively met the possibility of the adoption of this draft law, in particular due to the existing negative experience with the so-called “Covid moratorium”, when bankruptcy proceedings could not be opened based on the statements of creditors with monetary claims that originated during the quarantine period. Judges and insolvency receivers in Ukraine draw attention to the fact that the introduction of such moratoriums will be an attempt to interfere with the economic activities of the companies and give preference to “bad faith” debtors, which negatively affects the country’s economy.
As of January 2023, the draft law has not been referred for adoption by the deputies.
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| Date for Your Diary: Annual Congress Amsterdam, 12-15 October |
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Registration will be opening soon for our flagship event of the year, which will take place in Amsterdam, the capital and most populous city of The Netherlands.
Sustainable Venue
Our venue for 2023, the Hotel Okura, takes its environmental and sustainable impact seriously. The hotel management is committed to protecting the environment by using, for example, paperless check-in, featuring seasonal products on their menu and using biodegradable alternatives for cleaning and dish-washing. They are aiming to reduce their carbon footprint by reduction of energy consumption by adjusting their equipment, technical installations and operating methods to make them as efficient as possible, for example through generating their own energy through solar panels and a well for thermal energy storage. Their goals are shared by all their staff and suppliers with similar ambitions to take responsibility to positively impact the environment and society.
Sustainable City
The Dutch national colour may be orange, but the Netherlands’ sustainability initiatives prove that the country has thoroughly green ambitions. With its use of bicycles instead of cars, high recycling rates, many green spaces and ethical, eco-friendly restaurants, it's the perfect place to live and eat responsibly. Green cities strive in all areas to reduce their environmental impact and encourage citizens and visitors to adopt a sustainable lifestyle, just as this Dutch city aims to become the cleanest and most eco-friendly in the world.
More details of the Annual Congress in Amsterdam will be published on our website, including a link to a special delegate rate at the hotel.
For an up-to-date list of the sponsorship opportunities for the Annual Congress, please contact Hannah Denney.
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| Update on National Insolvency Statistics from Germany |
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During the past decade, the overall number of insolvencies did steadily decrease. Over the course of the last two years, a slew of new regulations as well as economic changes have somewhat reshaped the insolvency landscape in Germany. Michael Thierhoff and Renate Müller from Andersen (Leipzig, Germany) write.
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With the help of considerable state subsidies, business insolvency cases came to a low in 2021 with only 14,130 cases registered, while the last peak in 2009 was at almost 33,000. However, due to prolonged inflation as well as a rise in energy costs and interest rates, the projected numbers for this past year - 14,700 cases - indicates a slight increase for the first time since the aftermath of the global financial crisis. An uptick is particularly noticeable in the realm of large companies: while in 2021, only 72 businesses with an annual revenue of over EUR 20 million filed for insolvency, in 2022, this number reportedly increased to 122. In terms of total revenue of all insolvent enterprises, the EUR 11.6 billion projected for 2022 is a major departure from 2021’s EUR 7.7 billion.
Consumer insolvency proceedings were deeply impacted by the abbreviated discharge period triggered by the EU regulation: introduced in 2021, the new mechanism provides for honest debtors a full discharge of debt within three years. The previous discharge period of six years was one of the longest in the EU. Consequently, it is no surprise that many consumers waited to file for insolvency until the new regulation had taken effect - this explains the massive spike in consumer insolvencies in 2021. However, 2022 saw a return to the previous trend: there were only 65,300 consumer insolvencies registered, a sharp downturn compared to 2021’s 78,920.
Preventive restructuring (StaRUG), a new mechanism introduced in January 2021 that encourages restructuring without triggering insolvency proceedings, seems to have struggled to make waves. As always in Germany, innovations do take their time to become accepted. In its first year, a total of 22 cases were registered, and while the statistics for 2022 are yet to be published, experts do not count on a notable increase just yet.
Further statistics from Germany and from all jurisdictions can be found on our website here.
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| The New Harmonisation Proposal: First Impressions from Poland |
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On 7 December 2022, the European Commission published a “Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council harmonising certain aspects of insolvency law (“Proposal”), which is currently available for comments from the public and interested entities. The Proposal regulates the following areas of substantive insolvency law: Avoidance actions; Asset tracing; Pre-packs; Duty of directors to submit a bankruptcy petition; Simplified winding-up for microenterprises; Creditors’ committees; and Drawing-up of key information factsheets by Member States on certain elements of their national law on insolvency proceedings.
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With the scope as largely outlined, the Proposal seems to harmonize quite a lot of important areas related to insolvency law. It is also another legal act at the European Union level covering insolvency and restructuring law, which subject matter seems to be more important from the economic and legal point of view, especially in the times of crises.
Mateusz Kaliński (Tatara and Partners, Poland) has written his firs impressions of the new Propsal, which you can read here.
Further information about the Proposal can be found on our website here.
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| Eurofenix Winter 2022-23 Edition Now Published |
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| Academic Forum Conference 2023, Amsterdam: Call for Papers |
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The Academic Forum of INSOL Europe will be hosting its 19th annual conference in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, on Wednesday 11 – Thursday 12 October 2023, immediately prior to INSOL Europe's main Annual Congress taking place in Amsterdam from 12 - 15 October 2023.
Expressions of interest are invited for the delivery of research papers and a presentation within the overall academic conference theme: “The Perpetual Renewal of European Insolvency Law”.
The Academic Forum encourages submissions on all relevant topics within the theme, dealing with substantive or procedural, as well as national or cross-border issues.
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Further details will be announced soon on the Academic Forum website.
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| The Fraud Conference 2023: Registration now Open! |
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Early-bird tickets now available with 15% discount
Join us at The Fraud Conference 2023 on Monday 27 March at the Royal College of Physicians, London. This conference brings together world-class experts including law makers, insolvency practitioners, counter fraud specialists and renowned academics to discuss the latest trends, innovations and developments in tackling economic crime.
This year the conference will be chaired by Frances Coulson (Wedlake Bell; UK Country Coordinator for INSOL Europe, Deputy Chair of the Fraud Advisory Panel; Chair of the R3 Fraud Group). Details of the topics and confirmed speakers is available to view here.
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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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| 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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