In vielen Branchen kann die Lieferkette eine Vielzahl von Unternehmen und Jurisdiktionen umfassen. Im derzeitigen Wirtschaftsklima ist es nicht ungewöhnlich, dass einzelne Lieferanten innerhalb dieser Lieferkette in finanzielle   Schwierigkeiten   geraten   oder ein Insolvenzverfahren beantragen.

In many industries, the supply chain can involve multiple suppliers and jurisdictions. In the current economic climate, it is not unusual for a supplier within the supply chain to encounter financial distress or even to enter into formal insolvency proceedings. This can have a significant impact on a company if its business depends on a distressed supplier and an alternative or additional supplier cannot be found (and production cannot be brought in house) or an alternative sourcing is not possible for other reasons, like part/raw material approval process, testing, customs etc.

Hong Kong’s Court of Final Appeal (CFA) recently handed down its judgment in the case of Guy Kwok-Hung Lam v Tor Asia Credit Master Fund LP [2023] HKCFA 9, upholding the Court of Appeal's earlier decision that a creditor's bankruptcy petition presented in Hong Kong should not be allowed to proceed where the petitioned debt is disputed and arises from an agreement with an exclusive jurisdiction clause (EJC) in favour of a foreign court.

In the context of rising energy and raw material prices, the German federal government has passed an Act regarding the Mitigation of Consequences of a Crisis under Restructuring and Insolvency Laws (Sanierungs- und insolvenzrechtliches Krisenfolgenabmilderungsgesetz – "SanInsKG").

On 30 August 2022, the Hong Kong Court of Appeal overturned the Court of First Instance's decision in the case of Guy Kwok-Hung Lam v Tor Asia Credit Master Fund LP and held that a creditor's bankruptcy petition presented in Hong Kong should not be allowed to proceed where the petitioned debt was disputed and arose from an agreement with an exclusive jurisdiction clause in favour of a foreign court.

With the Act on the Temporary Suspension of the Insolvency Filing Obligation Due to Heavy Rainfall and Floods in July 2021 (Gesetz zur vorübergehenden Aussetzung der Insolvenzantragspflicht wegen Starkregenfällen und Hochwassern im Juli 2021), which is part of the Reconstruction Assistance Act 2021 (Aufbauhilfegesetzes 2021), the German Federal Parliament and the German Federal Council have decided to suspend the obligation to file for insolvency retroactively as of 10 July 2021.

Einleitung

Introduction

Within German contract law, the principle of being bound by a contract (pacta sunt servanda), i.e. the obligation to fulfill agreements, applies. In case of the insolvency of one of the contractual parties, however, exceptions are made. Upon the opening of the insolvency proceedings, the principle of being bound by a contract is modified. 

Im deutschen Vertragsrecht gilt das Prinzip der Vertragstreue (pacta sunt servanda), welches die Verpflichtung zur Erfüllung von Verträgen zum Gegenstand hat. Hiervon werden im Falle der Insolvenz einer Vertragspartei Ausnahmen gemacht. Mit Eröffnung des Insolvenzverfahrens wird das Prinzip der Vertragstreue modifiziert.