A recent decision of the Slovak Courts suggest that if main proceedings have been opened in one member state and the debtor has assets in Slovakia, the insolvency practitioner in the main proceedings must act quickly and sell those assets before secondary proceedings are opened in Slovakia, otherwise he runs the risk of losing the assets to the secondary estate. Legal title to the assets must have passed to the buyer before the secondary proceedings are opened; it is not enough just for contracts to have been exchanged.
Admission de l’inscription définitive d’une hypothèque judiciaire provisoire malgré la liquidation judiciaire
Cass. Com, 3 mai 2016, n°14-21.556
Aux termes d’un arrêt de principe, la Cour de cassation entérine et confirme la possibilité pour le créancier disposant d’une hypothèque judiciaire provisoire, inscrite avant le jugement d’ouverture, de l’inscrire définitivement après la liquidation judiciaire du débiteur.
The effect of Hanjin's Korean rehabilitation proceedings in France has been rather limited.
Fidèle à sa jurisprudence, la Cour de cassation réitère sa position : de la seule fonction de dirigeant ne peut se déduire la qualité de caution avertie. En pareil cas, c’est à l’établissement de crédit de prouver qu’il s’est acquitté de son devoir de mise en garde lorsqu’il en est effectivement tenu.
Law n°2015 990 for growth, activity and equality of economic opportunities, the Macron Law, was finally adopted on 6 August 2015. This law covers a wide range of matters from Sunday working, reform of regulated legal professions to driving licences.
Relaxing of the Regime for Free Shares
The continued modernisation of the French economy has been a long and difficult process but, as a former British prime minister was fond of saying, “there is no alternative”.
On August 6, 2015, France adopted legislation named after the French Minister of Economy, Emmanuel Macron (“Macron Law”), that is designed to promote economic growth, activity, and equal opportunity. What follows is a brief summary of the principal reforms to French insolvency law introduced by the Macron Law. As discussed in more detail below, these measures include the creation of specialized insolvency courts for large cases and the introduction of rules and procedures that permit “cramdown” of shareholder interests in French reorganization proceedings.
Summary
A new law which came into force on 8 August 2015 now permits a French court to enforce debt-for-equity swaps. Where the debtor company is in judicial reorganisation proceedings (redressement judiciaire) and if certain conditions are met, the court can either:
A scandal in the world of letters and old manuscripts would not have gone unnoticed and the French case of Aristophil has lead to extensive press coverage; a massive fraud is suspected with thousands of works and hundreds of millions of euros at stake.
Background
In February 2012, following the highly political closing of the Florange site, a steel production plant, President François Hollande vowed that going forward any company wanting to close down its operations in France would have an obligation to first look for a purchaser.