Over the past few years, the Belgian legislature has consolidated various pieces of legislation regulating businesses into a single instrument: the Code of Economic Law (Wetboek van economisch recht/ Code de droit économique). Insolvency law has not escaped this trend. In the summer of 2017, the Belgian Parliament enacted Book XX of the Code of Economic Law, entitled "Insolvency of Undertakings" (hereinafter the "Insolvency Code").

Earlier intervention in case of distress to preserve value and save jobs. That is the goal of the proposed 'EU Business Restructuring Directive', which was presented yesterday by the European Commission and aims to ensure a minimum harmonization of restructuring procedures within the European Union.

On 20 May 2015, after a three-year legislative process, a recast version of the European Insolvency Regulation (EIR) was adopted. For the most part, it will be applicable in approximately two years' time. The most important changes likely to affect the European restructuring landscape are a broader scope of application and new rules on COMI. The recast regulation also introduces a framework for group insolvency proceedings.

On November 1 2007 the State Commission for Insolvency presented the Preliminary Bill for an Insolvency Act to the minister of justice. The bill contains rules for the recognition of insolvency proceedings in non-EU countries and the law applicable to foreign proceedings. This update examines those rules and their relationship to the EU Insolvency Regulation and the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency.

Case Law

The Dutch Supreme Court today confirmed the decision of the Amsterdam Court of Appeals which found that the bankruptcy of Russian oil company Yukos cannot be recognised in the Netherlands because it came about in a manner which violates Dutch public policy. Today's decision marks the end of a court battle that lasted more than a decade. 

Recently, the Dutch Supreme Court rendered a judgment in which it has given a detailed explanation of the effects of bankruptcy proceedings on a contract or other legal relationship.[1] The case in question involved a dispute between a bankruptcy trustee and a bank as to whether the bank could file its post-bankruptcy l

Recently, the Dutch Supreme Court rendered a judgment in which it has given a detailed explanation of the effects of bankruptcy proceedings on a contract or other legal relationship.[1] The case in question involved a dispute between a bankruptcy trustee and a bank as to whether the bank could file its post-bankruptcy l

In a judgment of 24 March 2017 (in Dutch), the Supreme Court of the Netherlands upheld the longstanding requirement that for a debtor to be declared bankrupt, there need to be at least two creditors.

De verjaringstermijn van na faillietverklaring vervallende rentevorderingen neemt pas een aanvang na het eindigen van het faillissement. Dat heeft de Hoge Raad op 24 juni 2016 geoordeeld in het arrest Boele's Scheepswerven II. Schuldeisers hoeven de verjaring van rentevorderingen gedurende een (eerste) faillissement dan ook niet te stuiten.

In Dutch case law it has long been held that the bankruptcy of a Dutch partnership automatically entails the bankruptcy of each of the partners. In a decision that explicitly breaks with previous case law, the Dutch Supreme Court found on 6 February 2015 that the bankruptcy of a Dutch partnership does no longer entail the bankruptcy of its partners.