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INSOL Europe news and offers
April 2022

 

Dear Members

It is nearly two months since Russia's unprovoked and unjustified invasion of Ukraine. Two months of indiscriminate killings, bombings of civilian targets and absolutely shocking violence, the effects of which are being felt the world over. 

While its economic impact will only gradually become fully clear, its broader significance was evident from that fateful 24 February. When Russian tanks rolled across the border, they did not just trample on Ukraine's sovereignty but on the very notion of the international rules-based order. Ukraine is being shelled for its Western aspirations – for trying to build a liberal democracy based on freedom and the rule of law and for seeking closer ties to the West and the European Union. This is simply unacceptable.

This new crisis hit just as the global economy was shaking off the effects of the COVID-pandemic. The EU started the year with GDP overall back at pre-pandemic levels. Unemployment had reached record lows, business and consumer surveys were strongly suggesting that confidence had returned and was growing. The US economy had a similarly fast and strong recovery, albeit it with some differences compared to the EU due to different safety nets and support mechanisms.  

Admittedly, not everything was rosy. Rather, there were already challenges on the horizon, namely rising energy prices and supply chain disruptions, both contributing to mounting inflation. Nevertheless, the fundamentals of the EU economy were solid and the assumption was that these challenges would subside over the course of the year. 

The war in Ukraine and its consequences have shattered these assumptions and changed the picture dramatically. Surging commodity prices have driven inflation to new records. Broken trade links are exacerbating supply chain strains. In the euro area, inflation reached 7.4% in March, the highest level since the introduction of the single currency. In the US, inflation has similarly shot up. Further, the successive rounds of sanctions that the EU and the US have imposed on Russia are exacerbating pressures on already strained global supply chains. 

Imposing the sanctions was undoubtedly the right thing to do but they are not without a price. Global supply chains will need, and are likely, to undergo major reorganisations. Strengthening trade links with other partners will take time and is likely to drive costs up in the short term. The notion of Wandel durch Handel, of bringing about change through trade, has shown its limitations. We need to rethink our relations with autocratic regimes and strengthen our ties with like-minded partners.  We need a new and more secure globalisation. The balance, of course, will not be an easy one to find.

In the face of these complex challenges and rising levels of unpredictability, our profession must rise to the occasion. Many companies are likely to be facing severe liquidity crises and we will be called upon to deal with the consequences. We must be adaptable yet stable and driven by purpose. It is a tall order but if we get this right, we can be the kind of leaders our clients and communities need and deserve. 

Let us remember that we already have tried and tested workable rescue tools at our disposal. In the decade since the financial crisis, our profession has developed some of the most flexible and successful corporate restructuring processes in the world. The gradual phasing in of the EU Restructuring Directive in all Member States should provide further and increased optionality when considering pre-insolvency business rescue procedures and allow us to keep businesses on an even keel. And the silver lining is that, like everything else, this crisis too shall pass...

As always, I hope wherever you are reading this, you are staying safe and well. 

Frank Tschentscher
President INSOL Europe

 

 

Frank
Tschentscher

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

 
Annual Congress 2022 - Dubrovnik - Registration Opening Soon!

  

Following our very successful return to live events at Dublin in March, preparations are now well underway for our next Congress which will take place 6-9 October 2022 in Dubrovnik, Croatia, an amazing city full of culture, history and vitality.

Held at the Rixos Premium Dubrovnik, there will be 2 days of technical sessions (10 hours for CPE) with expert keynote speakers and panel discussions, as well as the usual ancillary meetings, networking opportunities and our wonderful Gala Dinner.

Look out for registration opening very soon on our website.

 

 

With thanks to our Congress Main Sponsor:

Call for Papers: Academic Forum Conference, Dubrovnik

The Academic Forum of INSOL Europe will be hosting its 18th annual conference in Dubrovnik, Croatia, on Wednesday 5 October – Thursday 6 October 2022, immediately prior to INSOL Europe's main annual conference taking place in Dubrovnik from 6 to 9 October, 2022.

Expressions of interest are invited for the delivery of research papers within the overall academic conference's theme, which will be: “Insolvency Law in Times of Crisis”.

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.  The deadline for submissions is 15 June 2022.

For more information and updates visit the Academic Forum Events page.

 

 

Insolvency Statistics: The effect of Government support in the UK

This month, Frances Coulson (Partner, Wedlake Bell LLP) draws our attention to the latest statistics from the UK government.

The recent statistics are unsurprising in the face of the huge amount of UK government support for business as well as restrictions on creditor action throughout 2020 and 2021 into 2022, which are only now ending, and even now with remaining potential delays to recovery of commercial rent arrears. Compulsory Liquidations were all but wiped out at 84% down, whilst even administrations and CVAs halved. 

Bucking the trend a little, creditors' voluntary liquidations rose by a third on 2020 numbers, but were only 5% up on 2019 numbers in the face of catastrophic business conditions. Anecdotally, the pandemic has caused a number of business people to choose to retire or change lifestyles.

With rising costs, supply chain issues and interest rate rises, as well as gearing up of creditor action including by HM Revenue & Customs, it seems inevitable that the end of 2022 will see very different numbers.

Find out the latest insolvency statistics from other jurisdictions on our website here.

  
 
New 'Coffee Breaks: Connecting Minds 2022' Video - Portugal
In partnership with:

Our Coffee Breaks: Connecting Minds 2022 series continues with our popular video conversation format established in 2020 and continued in 2021. This year, the INSOL Europe Country Coordinators will share their experiences with representatives from their local associations and/or other stakeholders, highlighting such reforms as the implementation of the EU Directive on Restructuring and Insolvency in the concerned jurisdictions, challenges of the national insolvency framework to address the current crisis and other key issues in their jurisdiction.

Coffee Breaks: Connecting Minds 2022 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.

The first in our series of videos for 2022, features David Sequeira Dinis (Lawyer, Partner, Uria Menendez, Portugal) and Judge Fátima Reis Silva (Court of Appeal of Lisbon, Portugal). Watch the video and previous editions on our website here.

 

 

 

Is the new Dutch scheme a dull re-run or successful spin-off?

Prior to Brexit, much ink was spilled by English jurists debating whether the English scheme of arrangement was covered by the EU Insolvency Regulation, the EU Judgments Regulation, or neither regime. Whenever the issue was brought before the English courts, however, they would generally reach the conclusion that it actually did not matter that much: the court would apply domestic law regardless. And with that, the English courts never reached a solid landing on the issue of whether either EU regulation applied or not.

Season one of the ‘EU regulations-show’ essentially ended with a nail-biting cliff-hanger in England, and as Brexit is unlikely to be reversed in the foreseeable future, there seems to be little hope for a sequel... Enter the Dutch! While Brexit has made the issue in England largely moot, the underlying discussion has recently got its own spin-off show in the Netherlands. On the 1 January 2021, the Dutch scheme – similar to the English scheme of arrangement and English restructuring plan – finally entered into force in the Netherlands (after having been in the works for close to eight years). Perhaps with the aim of avoiding the same discussions that preoccupied English jurists for many years, the Dutch legislator decided to forgo typical English politeness about the subject, choosing instead to be typically Dutch and blunt about it.

Read the full story here by Géza Orbán, Associate, Allen & Overy, Amsterdam

 

New Italian provisions to help companies avoid crisis

Giorgio Cherubini and Giovanna Canale of EXPLegal, Italy, write on the new procedure for negotiated settlement of the crisis in Italy

In Italy, the legislator has reacted to the impact of the Covid-19 virus on business by researching and promoting the implementation of instruments to prevent and deal with companies in crisis.

The new provision introduces the creation of a procedure called “negotiated settlement of the crisis”. This is a new procedure that undoubtedly represents the most significant action and provides a new tool to support companies in difficulties. It is firmly aimed at their recovery and presents the following characteristics:

  • According to Article 2 of Law Decree no. 118/2021, all commercial entrepreneurs, as well as agricultural entrepreneurs - normally entities who cannot be adjudicated bankrupt - can use this procedure.
  • One of the main peculiarities is the appointment of the “expert”, a new professional to facilitate negotiations between the entrepreneur, the creditors and any other interested parties in order to overcome the condition of equity- or economic-financial imbalance. The expert must have in-depth skills in the area of ​​business crisis and corporate restructuring.
  • An essential requirement for access to the procedure is the actual perspective of recovery, which is verified by carrying out a test aimed at allowing a preliminary assessment of the complexity of recovery through the relationship between the entity to the debt to be restructured and the cashflows that could be committed annually to servicing the debt.

A more detailed update will be published in the Summer edition of Eurofenix.

 

Update on the Transposition of the EU Directive in Croatia

Jelenko Lehki (INSOL Europe Country Coordinator for Croatia / Co-Chair of the 2022 Dubrovnik Congress Technical Committee / Lehki Law Firm) provides an update on the transposition of the EU Directive on Restructuring and Insolvency in Croatia.

Second amendments to the Croatian Bankruptcy Act (2015) came into effect on 31 March 2022 and were introduced to implement the EU Directive on Restructuring and Insolvency.

 

Most of new provisions were added to the existing “pre-insolvency” procedure (Predstečajni postupak) which is intended to be used as a restructuring procedure. Changes include:

  • limitation of mandatory moratorium in this procedure now at 120 days (with possibility of extension),
  • restructuring plan can be submitted at later stage,
  • mandatory differentiation of creditors classes,
  • changes in voting (presumption of acceptance of restructuring plan in case no vote against was submitted),
  • treatment of “executory contracts” and “ipso facto” clauses, 
  • and limitation of avoidance actions regarding new money transactions in restructuring in case of (later) bankruptcy.

In insolvency (bankruptcy) proceedings, provisions that debtor can submit bankruptcy plan are returned. As regards insolvency practitioners, the existing two lists from which courts used to appoint insolvency practitioners (trustees in bankruptcy) in new cases depending on the type of procedure (summary/regular), are now replaced by one list.

Changes are made also in relation to forced collection proceedings that started before opening of insolvency proceedings for which Commercial courts have jurisdiction on once insolvency proceedings are opened. Early warning system is introduced, as well as systematic collecting of data in insolvency proceedings and restrictions for debtors previously convicted for criminal acts connected with insolvency proceedings are introduced.

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

 

Entries now open for the Richard Turton Award 2022

Application Deadline: 30 June 2022

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. 

We invite applications from any person who is a national of a developing or emerging nation, works in or studies insolvency & restructuring law and practice and is under 35 years of age. The successful applicant will be asked to 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. The award for the best paper proposal will be presented at the INSOL Europe Congress in Dubrovnik, 6-9 October 2022.

Visit our website for full details of the eligibility criteria and how to enter.

Annual Congress 2023: Amsterdam - Call for expressions of interest

With the Congress in Dublin still fresh in our minds, and plans for our next Congress in Dubrovnik in October this year already well advanced, you may be surprised to learn that we have already started planning our 2023 Congress, which will be held in Amsterdam from 12-15 October 2023.

All INSOL Europe members are invited to express their interest to participate as speakers at our flagship event which should indicate:

  1. the speaker’s nationality, affiliation and qualifications,
  2. the topic on which the speaker would be interested in speaking, and
  3. 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 to Emmanuelle Inacio, no later than 30 June 2023.

 


 

  

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.
 
 
 
 
 

 

With thanks to our Congress Main Sponsor: