Beseitigung eines steuerlichen Liquidationshindernisses durch die Verfügung der OFD Frankfurt a.M. vom 30. Juni 2017?!

Air Berlin, one of Europe’s largest airlines, filed for insolvency on 15 August 2017. The airline, which is Germany’s second-largest carrier after Lufthansa, filed following the decision by Etihad Airways to pull financial support. Etihad owns 29% of Air Berlin and had been pumping money into the struggling airline for the past 6 years.

In der Insolvenz eines Unternehmens sehen sich auch dessen Arbeitnehmer Anfechtungsklagen des Insolvenzverwalters ausgesetzt. Ist die Anfechtungsklage erfolgreich, muss der Arbeitnehmer regelmäßig den Arbeitslohn der letzten drei Monate vor Antrag auf Eröffnung des Insolvenzverfahrens an die Insolvenzmasse zurückzahlen.

In the context of German restructuring, bridge loans (Überbrückungskredite) are loans that are granted to financially distressed companies until a restructuring plan is formulated in order to avoid the company’s insolvency. In most cases, such loans are granted for a limited timeframe. After the restructuring plan has been finalized, renegotiations are usually required, in particular between the company, the lender and the company’s other creditors.

Masseunzulänglichkeit führt zu erneuter Zäsur: Privilegierung als Neumasseverbindlichkeit gilt nur für anteiligen Zeitraum ab Masseunzulänglichkeit

Consensual restructuring continues to gain ground as the “go to process” for over leveraged and distressed business.

Gesetz zur Verbesserung der Rechtssicherheit bei Anfechtungen nach der Insolvenzordnung und nach dem Anfechtungsgesetz

Marex Financial Limited v. Carlos Sevilleja Garcia [2017] EWHC 918 (Comm)

This recent decision on a jurisdictional challenge has provided greater clarity and potentially created a tortious cause of action where a debtor dissipates assets prior to judgment and subsequent freezing order.

Background

Summary

In April 2017, important changes were effected in connection with German insolvency law and the avoidance of certain antecedent transactions.

Case law had greatly increased the risk of insolvency administrators successfully clawing back assets from creditors of the insolvent entity, which the reforms now address.

Background

For a clawback claim based on intent (Vorsatzanfechtung) to succeed, an insolvency administrator has to prove that:

After having implemented stricter anti-bribery and corruption regulations in late 2015 and mid2016, new criminal law provisions regarding confiscation orders and asset recovery will enter into force on 1 July 2017. The present legislation was considered to be insufficient. Further, the law implements European provisions into national law. The law provides new rules for compensation of damaged parties and lower prerequisites for confiscations.