European Insolvency Proceedings

After many years of negotiations among Member States, a uniform set of private international law rules has been established to determine the conduct of cross-border insolvency proceedings within the European Community. This is the European Insolvency Regulation of May 2000. Although each state still retains its own insolvency law, the regulation greatly reduces the risk of opportunistic behaviour by providing certainty as to which European courts have jurisdiction to open insolvency proceedings and which state?s laws apply, in addition to ensuring the cross-border effectiveness within the EU of the decisions handed down by those courts. This in-depth commentary offers practitioners in international business transactions and litigation a definitive guide to the workings of the Insolvency Regulation. The authors?one of whom co-wrote the official explanatory report on the 1995 Convention on Insolvency Proceedings, a report that still plays a fundamental hermeneutic role?leave no stone unturned in their probing analysis, which explains in detail such elements as the following: relationship with other community legal instruments and international conventions; territorial scope; substantive scope; third-party rights in rem and reservation of title; set-off; contracts relating to immovable property; employment contracts and relationships; payment systems and financial markets; community patents and trademarks; publication and registration; lodgement of claims; and special considerations affecting credit institutions and insurance undertakings. Company lawyers handling insolvency cases and issues will find nothing comparable to this expert work. Its direct practical usefulness is immediately apparent. In addition, however, it stands out as a preeminent work on a critical and hard-won legal instrument (and by extension on the entire field of European insolvency law) and as such is an essential resource for jurists and legal academics.

"The new European Insolvency Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2015/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 2015 on insolvency proceedings) has come into effect on 26 June 2017 for insolvency proceedings that are opened on or after that date. The Recast Regulation reforms the EC Regulation (1346/2000) on insolvency proceedings. The main changes of the Regulation are: The extension of its application to preventive insolvency proceedings; The creation of publicly accessible online insolvency registers; The possibility of avoiding the opening of multiple proceedings and preventing 'forum shopping'; The introduction of new procedures with the aim of facilitating cross-border coordination and cooperation between multiple insolvency proceedings in different Member States relating to members of the same group of companies. In this book a team of experienced insolvency law experts, among them judges, insolvency practitioners and academics, analyse the European Insolvency Regulation article by article. The authors focus on the new provisions and mechanisms as well as on the existing, and to a great extent still relevant, case law by the European Court of Justice and courts of the Member States."--Bloomsbury Publishing.

In the European Union, the effectiveness of judicial protection granted to a business or consumer in crisis depends on the extent and manner in which court rulings in bankruptcy and restructuring cases are recognised in all Member States. This article-by-article commentary on Regulation (EU) 2015/848 provides expert guidance through the entire course of insolvency proceedings, clearly showing how to solve specific problems that arise in insolvency cases with a cross-border element, including aspects such as jurisdiction, applicable law, recognition and enforceability of judgments and coordination of group of companies’ insolvencies. For any party instituting an insolvency proceeding in an EU Member State, the commentary provides such detailed guidance as the following: identifying the appropriate internationally competent court for filing; terms pursuant to which a judgment can be recognised; duties of an insolvency practitioner (IP); IP’s authority in the territory of another state; IP’s obligations towards creditors in another state; rights of foreign creditors; admissibility of conducting secondary insolvency proceedings; conducting simultaneous insolvency proceedings against the same debtor; permissible forms of contact and cooperation between judges and parties to the proceedings; and conducting proceedings involving a group of companies. An important feature of the commentary highlights the standpoints of lawyers from Central and Eastern Europe, where the commercial judiciary operates in a distinctly different way from that in countries with a well-established market economy system. Interpretation of provisions of the Regulation by lawyers from this part of Europe enhances the scope of legal argument both in the economic sphere and in the sphere of justice. With its detailed and in-depth description of international jurisdiction, recognition, and universal and territorial effects of insolvency proceedings, this practical book will be welcomed by counsel to business persons conducting international activity, trustees in bankruptcy, tax advisers, court enforcement officers, academics dealing with insolvency law, banks dealing with the collection of receivables, and debt collection companies. In addition, as a contribution to the debate on the optimal model for the international consequences of insolvency proceedings, its discussion of issues related to national jurisdiction, bankruptcy and restructuring of groups of companies, and international judicial cooperation will be particularly valuable for researchers.

A comparative analysis of security rights in insolvency proceedings under the main legal traditions of the European Union (common law, Germanic, Napoleonic Code and East European) in the context of Articles 5 and 13 of the European Insolvency Regulation Regulation 1346/2000.

Since the adoption of the EU Regulation on Insolvency Proceedings in 2000 and its recast in 2015, it has become clear that lawyers engaged in consumer insolvency proceedings are increasingly expected to have a basic understanding of foreign insolvency proceedings, as well as knowledge of the foreign country's court and legal system, legislation and judicial practice. Written by 50 highly qualified insolvency experts from 30 European countries, A Guide to Consumer Insolvency Proceedings in Europe provides the necessary information in the largest, most up-to-date and comprehensive book on this topic. Assisting the readers in their navigation through the differences, similarities, and peculiarities of insolvency proceedings in all Member States of the European Union, Switzerland and Russia, this book is a unique guide to insolvency proceedings across Europe. With contributions by both academics and practitioners, it provides truly multinational coverage of the economic, legal, social, political, and demographic issues in consumer insolvency. Illustrating the numerous practices across Europe, this book allows the reader to evaluate each aspect both on its own merits, as well as in comparison to the approaches applied in other European jurisdictions. This book will be an invaluable tool for insolvency practitioners, judges, lawyers, creditors and debtors throughout Europe, especially those participating in cross-border proceedings.

This comprehensive book provides a clear analysis of the main features of the European Insolvency Regulation 2015/848, within the context of previous EU initiatives, as well as addressing the contrasting objectives of universalism and territorialism which underpin cross border insolvency law. It measures the EU regulations against the UNCITRAL Model Law on Cross Border Insolvency and compares this with how the Model Law has been implemented elsewhere, such as in the US and the UK.

Critically analysing the substantive law of insolvency in the EU countries as a whole, this book carries out horizontal cross-cutting analysis of the data gathered from a study of national insolvency laws. It selects particular areas for detailed discussion and considers the pros and cons of particular legislative solutions.

Updated to reflect recent case law and modifications to the EU Insolvency Regulation, this book is a primer that covers jurisdictional issues, "winding-up" procedures such as the appointment of a liquidator, recognition of judgments, creditors' rights and other provisions. Written by Prof. Bob Wessels of University of Leiden Law School in the Netherlands, this book is an invaluable resource for professionals who find themselves increasingly involved in cross-border insolvency cases.