Today, the draft bill on the continuity of companies II (Wet continuïteit ondernemingen II) went into public consultation. The bill is based on a proposal in 2013 by Ruud Hermans and Reinout Vriesendorp of De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek and was discussed with experts from stakeholders. The bill provides for a restructuring procedure inspired by international restructuring practices, in particular English scheme of arrangement and US Chapter 11 proceedings. The bill provides for one of the most significant amendments of the Dutch Bankruptcy Act in decades.
In recent years Dutch banks have established a practice of creating undisclosed rights of pledge (stil pandrecht) on all current and future receivables of their borrowers in an easy way and without the borrower's involvement. In the Supreme Court's ruling of 3 February 2012 (HR 3 February 2012, LJN BT6947), this practice was unsuccessfully put to the test by a bankruptcy trustee, who contested the alleged right of pledge of ING Bank on receivables of its bankrupt client.