Introduction

1. Inleiding

Dit is onze halfjaarlijkse nieuwsbrief over ontwikkelingen op het gebied van het Nederlandse vennootschaps- en ondernemingsrecht. In deze Corporate Update geven wij eerst een overzicht van enkele wetswijzigingen. Verder gaan we in op de stand van zaken van een aantal lopende wetsvoorstellen en tot slot signaleren wij nog enkele overige actualiteiten.

Back to the future – but no idea when What Brexit could mean for the Anglo-European restructuring industry What happens now? On 23 June 2016, the UK voted to leave the European Union. The nature of the UK’s relationship with the EU and the rest of the world, post-Brexit (if and when Brexit happens), is uncertain. So what do we know? Actually, we do know several things: – Legally speaking, the referendum result has no immediate effect. It is only advisory.

This edition of Global Insight comes to you shortly after the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union.

This briefing covers Brexit implications of restructuring and insolvency, in particular it discusses the implications on the European Regulation on Insolvency Proceedings and recognition of insolvency judgments and how schemes of arrangement will be impacted by Brexit.

Mit seinem Urteil vom 10. Dezember 2015, Az. C-594 / 14, hat der EuGH entschieden, dass die Haftung eines Geschäftsführers für verbotene Aus- zahlungen nach Insolvenzreife nach §64 GmbHG eine insolvenzrechtliche Regelung darstellt und deshalb dem Anwendungsbereich der EuInsVO unterliegt.

In its ruling dated 10 December 2015, case ref. C-594 / 14, the ECJ decided that the liability of a managing director for prohibited payments following insolvency under section 64 of the GmbHG is a provision covered by insolvency law and therefore falls within the scope of application of the EU Insolvency Regulation.

On 23 June 2016 a 52% majority of the British people voted in favour of leaving the European Union. It seems likely that the immediate effect of the Brexit vote will be a degree of turmoil in the financial markets, involving, for instance a devaluation of Sterling against the Euro and of the Euro against the USD.

The true effects of the events of the last few days have yet to be seen. With the mainstream political parties acting like participants in a ‘Compose a Greek Tragedy’ competition, a government unlikely to exercise any meaningful executive functions until autumn (at least), the currency and financial markets in turmoil and the future uncertain on a range of factors, it is tempting to succumb to a condition of inaction whilst waiting to see how the cards fall.

The only certainty following the referendum is that exiting the EU will substantially alter the legal landscape from a recovery and insolvency viewpoint.

Over the past few years the various EU members have been working hard to eradicate or minimise inconsistencies between the individual regulations which have led to not only confusion but also “forum shopping” by those facing insolvency. The idea is to provide a level playing field so that businesses in particular knew where they stood should a company in another country get into trouble.