Report by Emma Inacio, INSOL Europe Technical Officer
We are delighted to announce that INSOL Europe was invited to hold a panel at the III International Insolvency Forum which took place during the Annual St Petersburg International Legal Forum (SPBILF) from 15 to 17 May 2019. The III International Insolvency Forum is one of the conferences organised under the aegis of the Annual SPBILF, founded in 2011, which is organised under the auspices of the President of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation, and attended by circa 1400 delegates including representatives of international organisations.

On Thursday 16 May, Evert Verwey (co-chair of the INSOL Europe EECC) and Emmanuelle Inacio (co-chair of the INSOL Europe High-Level Course on Insolvency) co-moderated the INSOL Europe panel session devoted to the implementation of a rescue culture. The panellists invited to join the INSOL Europe panel were Christina Fussi (Co-Chair of the Insolvent Financial Institutions Subcommittee of the IBA Insolvency Section), Carrie-Ann James (Vice-President of the Insolvency Practitioners Association), Edward Olevinsky (head of the Advisory Council of the Russian Union of Self-Regulated Organizations of Arbitration Managers) and Artur Trapitsyn (member of the Board of the Russian Union of Self-Regulated Organizations of Arbitration Managers and chairman of the Self-Regulated Organization of Arbitration Managers "Merkuriy").

After a presentation of INSOL Europe, the panel took the form of a discussion where the participants identified the main elements of the pre-insolvency procedures in their own jurisdictions and presented the future directive on preventive restructuring frameworks as an opportunity to seize not only to harmonise the rescue culture in the European Union but beyond, which was greatly welcomed by our Russian hosts.

INSOL Europe was proud to be present at the 2018 and 2019 SPBILF which has emerged as a foremost international platform for discussing a broad range of urgent questions confronting the contemporary international community of legal professionals.
 

We are delighted to announce that registration for our Annual Congress in Copenhagen, Denmark, from 26-29 September 2019 is now open.  [Read more]

INSOL International is in the process of launching its new Foundation Certificate in International Insolvency Law, which commences on 1 September 2019. Enrolments on the course open on 1 March 2019.     

This course has been designed as an entry level course for persons who have no or very little experience in the field of international insolvency law, especially for persons in emerging markets and developing economies who may not have access to a similar course in their own jurisdictions. The Foundation Certificate is not to be confused with the Global Insolvency Practice Course (GIPC), which remains INSOL International’s flagship educational offering for persons with more than five years’ experience.     

While the course fee for both designated and non-designated countries has already been set very low for a course of this nature, please note that INSOL International members qualify for a 25% discount on the course fee.
INSOL Europe members are also therefore eligible for this discount.

Full details regarding the course, the entry criteria and the course fee can be found in the course brochure.

If you have any questions regarding the content or presentation of the course, please do not hesitate to contact the Course Leader, David Burdette at david@insol.ision.co.uk.

The Academic Forum of INSOL Europe will be hosting its annual conference in Copenhagen on 25 and 26 September 2019. Expressions of interest are invited for the delivery of papers within the overall conference theme, which will be: “Harmonisation of insolvency and restructuring laws in the EU”. [Read more]

On 12 November 2018, Giese & Partner organized the first INSOL Europe Lunch in Prague. Ernst Giese reports on this event which took place in the historic centre of Prague in the vicinity of the famous Castle. 

Several insolvency law experts, liquidators and qualified attorneys from leading Czech law firms accepted the invitation to discuss the current status of the Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on preventive restructuring frameworks, second chance and measures to increase the efficiency of restructuring, insolvency and discharge procedures and amending Directive 2012/30/ EU.

The president of INSOL Europe, Mr. Alastair Beveridge gave the welcome address and introduced the association and its activities.

The keynote speaker was Mr. Nicolaes W. A. Tollenaar from RESOR law firm, Amsterdam. Mr. Tollenaar presented a lively analysis on the Proposal in respect to “debtor-friendly” and “creditor-friendly” systems. His analysis was clearly that the first ones hinder whereas the latter ones facilitate business rescues.

Mr. Tollenaar offered many useful insights and an outline of what insolvency proceedings should look like ideally, while taking into account economic criteria. He criticised the EC initiative for failing to provide not only the debtor, but also creditors, the right to propose a restructuring plan. Exclusivity in favour of the debtor gives controlling shareholders the ability to offer creditors only marginally more than they might receive in a liquidation. If creditors do not have the right to put forward their own plan and develop an alternative, in practical terms they have no other option than to accept the plan put forward through the debtor by the controlling shareholder. This leads to a transfer of wealth from creditors to shareholders.

All attendees then shared their opinions, suggestions for consideration and exchanged their professional experience across borders. Tomáš Richter from Clifford Chance (Czech Republic) brought into discussion his practical knowledge, pointing out the fact that there is good and modern legislation focusing on insolvency in the Czech Republic, but the judicial application is very inconsistent in quality.

Finally, the attendees suggested that regular meetings of the insolvency community in Prague will help to promote INSOL Europe in the Czech Republic.