On 15 December 2025, the Dutch Council of State (CoS; in Dutch: Raad van State) issued a critical opinion on the draft bill on transfer of undertaking in bankruptcy (In Dutch: Wet overgang van onderneming in faillissement, the WOVOF).

Earlier today, the Dutch House of Representatives (de Tweede Kamer) has voted in favour of the draft bill on “court sanctioning private composition to avoid bankruptcy” (de Wet homologatie onderhands akkoord ter voorkoming van faillissement, the WHOA), together with certain amendments.

This is great news: the WHOA is an effective restructuring tool that is likely to become widely used both in local and cross border restructurings. Especially in light of COVID-19, this is a welcome extra tool for enterprises in distress to avoid bankruptcy.