Los jueces de los juzgados mercantiles de Barcelona han publicado un conjunto de directrices básicas para la tramitación de los ‘pre-packs’ concursales españoles, introduciendo la herramienta, opcional, del “administrador silente” (‘silent administrator’). Las directrices se aprobaron en el contexto de un seminario organizado el pasado 20 de enero.
The judges of the Commercial Courts of Barcelona have released a set of basic guidelines for conducting Spanish insolvency pre-packs in that forum, by introducing the feature -of optional use- of the silent administrator. The guidelines were approved in the context of a seminar organized on January 20th.
Selection of the main judgments on restructuring and insolvency matters.
Silent administrator role allowed in pre-pack sale of business unit
Decision by Barcelona Commercial Court No 7 on October 30, 2020
The decision adopted on October 1, 2020 by commercial judges practicing in Barcelona, Tarragona, Gerona and Lérida states that insolvency receivers, owners or lawyers must report to the Directorate General for Industry of the Catalan Generalitat government regarding any companies with operating business units that have given a pre-insolvency notice, are in insolvency proceedings or other difficult situations
The decision of November 25, 2020, by the Secretary of State for the Economy and Business Support, published the decision by the council of ministers setting out the terms and conditions for the new tranches of the guarantee facilities approved by Royal Decree-Law 25/2020, of July 3, 2020. The new tranches are to be used for funding to businesses under an arrangement and any which, while not under an arrangement, were in the process of reviewing their promissory note program on MARF (Spanish Alternative Bond Market) on April 23, 2020.
The facts of this case were somewhat unusual although it serves as a reminder of the principles involved in the trading of a business by a trustee in bankruptcy.
Background
The background facts to this case are relatively straightforward: a group of companies consisting of the parent (‘AIL’) and three subsidiaries (‘the Subsidiaries’) operated in the energy sector.
A lender (‘Junior Creditor’) advanced approximately £39M to AIL, secured by qualifying floating charges (‘QFC’) over AIL and the Subsidiaries. A second lender (‘Senior Creditor’) subsequently lent £5M to AIL secured by a QFC over AIL but not the Subsidiaries.
Twelve creditors (representing about 16% of company debt, and represented by a firm of licensed insolvency practitioners) have failed in an attempt to compel administrators to move to creditors’ voluntary liquidation, alternatively an order for compulsory liquidation. The Creditors also sought the revocation of a proposal ‘purported to have been deemed approved’.
The Company was involved in construction work, falling victim to the Covid-19 pandemic in that it was forced to cease trading following the announcement of lockdown on 23 March 2020.
La prolongada duración de los efectos de la pandemia COVID-19 sobre el tejido económico empresarial ha impulsado al Gobierno a extender en el tiempo algunas de las medidas en el ámbito de la Administración de Justicia que se habían adoptado en el marco del Real Decreto-Ley 16/2020, de 28 de abril, posteriormente confirmadas en la Ley 3/2020, de 18 de septiembre.
Analizamos la Ley 3/2020, de 18 de septiembre, de medidas procesales y organizativas para hacer frente al COVID-19 en el ámbito de la Administración de Justicia para comprobar qué hay nuevo y qué ha cambiado esta nueva regulación respecto a la norma que la precedió, el RDL 16/2020 publicado durante la primera oleada de la pandemia.