With a recession appearing to be inevitable, for many companies innovation is more important than ever. Innovating and contracting in times of crisis requires caution, however, and contracts should as far as possible be insolvency-proof. Popular solutions include guarantees, sureties and retention of title. But it may be worth considering a lesser known option, the intercompany settlement clause, which works as follows.
Paying a debt to an insolvent company
The Dutch legislator has published a bill for a new pre-insolvency tool, which seeks to combine the best of the UK scheme of arrangement and the US Chapter 11 procedure. The new legislation will be formally called 'The Act regarding the binding approval of debt restructuring agreements'. Among restructuring professionals it is already widely referred to as the WHOA (Wet homologatie onderhands akkoord) or the "Dutch Scheme". Currently, the WHOA is pending final approval by the Dutch parliament and is expected to enter into force on 1 July 2020.
Unfortunately your business can be confronted with bankruptcy of one of your (Dutch) business partners. In most cases this will damage your business. We can help you to avoid or limit damages. In this edition of TW FOUR we will set out FOUR ways to protect your business from the bankruptcy of one of your (Dutch) business partners.
As mentioned in our earlier blog, the Dutch legislator has prepared a bill – the Act on confirmation of private restructuring plans (Wet homologatie onderhands akkoord) – which introduces a framework allowing debtors to restructure their debts outside formal insolvency proceedings (the “Dutch Scheme“).
Op 17 maart jl. nam de regering uitzonderlijke maatregelen om de economische gevolgen van de corona uitbraak het hoofd te bieden. Met noodmaatregelen probeert de regering ondernemingen overeind te houden. Het blijft onzeker of die maatregelen voldoende financiële ruimte geven om de salarissen en schuldeisers (op termijn) te betalen. We bespreken daarom in deze bijdrage een uiterste redmiddel: de wettelijke procedure van surseance van betaling.
Surseance van betaling (uitstel van betaling)
Het COVID-19 virus heeft ook vergaande gevolgen voor de toegankelijkheid van overheidsrechtspraak en alternatieve vormen van geschilbeslechting in Nederland. In dit artikel vertellen we u welke maatregelen er tot op heden zijn getroffen en wat de consequenties daarvan zijn voor zowel lopende als nieuwe zaken.
Sluiting van gerechtsgebouwen
It is widely known that COVID-19 imposes immediate difficulties on many companies to pay their bills, and – equally – to collect their own outstanding invoices. Below, we discuss the most commonly expected complications against the background of enforcement, leniency provisions and – if worst comes to worst – insolvency in the Netherlands.
Government measures (emergency aid)
The coronavirus (covid-19) has an unprecedented impact worldwide, and in the Netherlands as well. In addition to the major measures taken by the Dutch government, debt restructuring at companies is necessary to prevent bankruptcies. Rapid implementation of the Court Approval of a Private Composition (Prevention of Insolvency) Act (WHOA) could help with this.
The liability of directors of major organisations receives wide coverage in the press. Examples (in the Netherlands) are Imtech, HDI, FC Twente, Vestia, and Meavita. But the subject really concerns directors of all legal entities, large and small. In this issue of Quoted, we refresh your knowledge of directors' liability and address recent developments, such as case law on `corporate directors' (legal entities which are appointed directors of other entities), the Bill for Management and Supervision of Legal Entities and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).