The liquidation in one single act is allowed in Belgium since 2012. The following formalities are strictly required:
Principle
In order to secure the protection of judicial reorganization, the debtor needs to attach to the petition for judicial reorganization a certain number of documents provided for in article 17 § 2 of the Law on the continuity of enterprises (LCE). If these documents are not attached to the petition, the LCE provides that the petition shall be deemed inadmissible.
Enactment
On 11 September the Belgian Act that introduces certain measures to restrict the activities of vulture funds (the “Act”) was published in the Belgian Official Journal.
As a general rule, lodging an appeal against a judgment no longer suspends its enforceability. This should accelerate the recovery of outstanding debt in Belgium.
Recovering outstanding debt in Belgium can feel like a long-winded and sometimes frustrating job. A creditor who obtained a judgment against a defaulting debtor is often confronted with an appeal by that debtor, lodged with the only intention to put the enforcement of this judgment on a back burner. Most courts of appeal built up a large backlog as a result of the massive workload of among others these dilatory appeals.
Legal & Regulatory
BRRD: FCA publishes modification by consent for Article 55 rules
Background
Legal developments
Comment
Historically, Belgian insolvency legislation has applied only to entities involved in commercial activities. However, recent jurisprudence and upcoming legislative changes will result in important amendments that are intended to broaden the scope of the existing legislation.
Pour rappel, la convention collective de travail n° 32bis (ci-après « CCT 32bis ») traite tant du transfert conventionnel d’entreprise – chapitre II de la CCT 32bis – que de la reprise d’actifs après faillite – chapitre III de la CCT 32bis.
Le créancier d’une société déclarée en faillite doit effectuer une déclaration de créances auprès du greffe du tribunal de commerce qui a déclaré la faillite en mentionnant le montant de sa créance et le privilège éventuel dont il peut se prévaloir. Dans l’hypothèse où le produit de la réalisation des actifs de la société faillie/en liquidation est suffisant, ce privilège permettra de récupérer à l’issue de la procédure de faillite un éventuel dividende.
The Belgian Company Code provides for the possibility to dissolve and liquidate a Belgian company in a single step (en un seul acte/in één akte) (for more information, please see the June 2012 edition of this newsletter).
The Act of 25 April 2014 amending the Company Code with regard to liquidation procedure (the "Act") was published in the Belgian State Gazette on 14 May 2014 and entered into force on 24 May 2014. The Act amends one of the main requirements to proceed with dissolution and liquidation in a single step.