The French conciliation procedure, introduced in 2005, has become such a key procedure in France that it cannot be ignored. For any restructuring involving France (whether partially or wholly), the possibility of a conciliation procedure has to be seriously considered.

Concept of conciliation procedure

Yesterday, FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair, the keynote speaker at the Institute of International Bankers Cross-Border Insolvency Issues Conference in New York, stressed the need to end the “too big to fail” mentality by “eliminating the belief that the government will always support large, interconnected financial firms.” Chairman Bair noted that in order to do so, “we need an effective mechanism to close large, financial intermediaries when they get into trouble.”