A recent judgment of the Amsterdam Court of Appeal marks the latest trend in Dutch law to strengthen the position of the debtor in the context of pre-judgment attachments. The Court of Appeal gave effect to the full disclosure principle that stipulates that the creditor, in its request for leave to make pre-judgment attachments, should properly inform the court of the merits of its claim and the dispute with the debtor.

A Bill has been submitted to the Second Chamber extending the Act on the Collective Settlement of Mass Claims (WCAM) to bankruptcy situations.

The WCAM has been in force since 2005 and enables parties involved in mass claims to apply to the Amsterdam Court of Appeal to declare a settlement binding on all class members. Well-known examples of this are the Court's decisions in DES and in Dexia. A recent decision in Converium shows that the WCAM may also apply to the settlement of mass claims involving a majority of foreign parties.

A consultation is held on a bill introducing special measures against financial undertakings (Intervention Act). The bill would amend the Financial Markets Supervision Act and the Bankruptcy Act in order to extend powers to intervene when financial undertakings find themselves in serious difficulties. The bill reflects developments within the European Union.

The Minister of Finance and the Minister of Security and Justice are holding a joint consultation on a bill introducing special measures against financial

In the corporate inquiry (enquête) procedure of Inter Access the Supreme Court recently confirmed a decision by the Enterprise Chamber where immediate measures were ordered which led to the dilution of a majority shareholder's stake. The managing board of the company was allowed to issue shares without a resolution of the AGM.

A bill introducing special measures with regard to financial undertakings (Intervention Bill) has been published for consultation. The bill would extend government powers to intervene in financial undertakings which are in serious difficulties. Under the bill the Dutch Central Bank (DNB) could draw up a plan for the transfer of financial undertakings which are experiencing irreversible financial problems. DNB could submit the transfer plan to the courts and request an order to implement the transfer scheme.

The Act amending the Financial Markets Supervision Act and the Bankruptcy Act (Wet tot wijziging van de Wet op het financieel toezicht en de Faillissementswet) in connection with consolidation of claims on the estate in the event of emergency regulations, moratorium on payments and bankruptcy, and requests for compensation on the grounds of the Safety Net Scheme entered into force on 16 March 20091.

On 1 March 2009, the Guideline on Investigation and Prosecution of Bankruptcy Fraud (Aanwijzing opsporing en vervolging faillissementsfraude; the “Guideline”) entered into force. The Guideline contains rules for the Public Prosecution Office (Openbaar Ministerie) to increase the prosecution of bankruptcy fraud. The Guideline indicates that criminal law will be complementary to the civil law instruments that a receiver (curator) has in bankruptcy proceedings. The Guideline further provides for cooperation between the Public Prosecution Office and receivers.

On 13 February 2009, the CDM Executive Board (CDM EB) adopted the procedures (the "Procedures") for modalities of communication (MoC) between project participants (PPs) in clean development mechanism (CDM) projects and the CDM EB, and a standardised MoC form (the "MoC Form").1 This Legal Alert gives an overview of the main elements of the Procedures and highlights certain insolvency issues related to the MoC.

Introduction