Summary
Once again, since spring 2020, the German legislator is adapting fundamental provisions of German insolvency law. Find out here what this is about and what implications the changes have for enterprises.
At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the obligation for businesses in Germany to file for insolvency was temporarily suspended by the COVID-19 Insolvency Suspension Act (COVInsAG). Accompanied by financial support measures, the German government wanted to counter the economic effects of the pandemic and enable companies to survive.
Germany’s planned Stabilization and Restructuring Framework (Stabilisierungs- und Restrukturierungsrahmen) is essentially an independent, out-of-court tool to implement a restructuring process by means of a restructuring plan in order to avert insolvency proceedings. The debtor and supporting creditors can rely on certain procedural assistance in order to implement and enforce a restructuring plan with their majority despite resistance on the part of individual stakeholders.
In a recent opinion – In re Heritage Home Group LLC, et al., Case No. 18-11736 (KG), 2018 WL 4684802 (Bankr. D. Del. Sept. 27, 2018) – the Delaware Bankruptcy Court addressed the longstanding issue of which professional persons must be retained under section 327(a) of the Bankruptcy Code.
A fundamental tenet of chapter 11 bankruptcies is the absolute priority rule. Initially a judge-created doctrine, the absolute priority rule was partially codified in section 1129(b)(2)(B)(ii) of the Bankruptcy Code. Under section 1129, plans must be “fair and equitable” in order to be confirmed.
Background: Professionals’ Fees in Chapter 11 cases
The German Parliament passed an act to reduce the risk of clawback actions and provide more legal certainty in this regard under German law, the so called "Act for the Improvement of Legal Certainty concerning Clawback pursuant to the German Insolvency Code and the Creditor's Avoidance of Transfers Act" (Gesetz zur Verbesserung der Rechtssicherheit bei Anfechtungen nach der Insolvenzordnung und dem Anfechtungsgesetz) on Thursday, 16 February 2017.