Drawing on the experiences gained from the Swissair grounding in 2001, many critical voices have been raised that Swiss insolvency law should be revised and should focus more on the restructuring of companies rather than their liquidation. Now, 12 years after the commencement of the Swissair insolvency proceedings and after various discussions and negotiations in the Swiss parliament, the revised Swiss insolvency law finally entered into force as of 1 January 2014.
What happens to a license agreement on insolvency of one of the parties? The answer depends not only on the terms of the license agreement and the law that governs that agreement, but also on the laws of the place where the insolvent party is located.
The debt restructuring proceedings of former national carrier Swissair are still ongoing and keeping the courts busy.
The insolvency of Petroplus has increased the few debt moratorium cases by one and reminded us of its importance. Despite a comprehensive revision of the Swiss Debt Collection and Bankruptcy Act in 1997 there has been little change to the fundamental idea of bankruptcy law that both available options, namely bankruptcy and debt moratorium, lead mostly to the same result and that is: liquidation.
Despite a comprehensive revision of the Swiss Debt Collection and Bankruptcy Act ('DCBA') in 1997 there has been little change to the fundamental idea of bankruptcy law that both available options, namely bankruptcy1 and debt moratorium and composition agreement2 (together 'involuntary liquidation proceedings'), lead mostly to the same result and that is: liquidation.
The Zurich High Court,(1) as court of second instance, recently dismissed a liability claim, to the amount of €150 million, initiated by the liquidator of Swissair against former members of Swissair's board of directors.