Executive Order n° 2014-326 of 12 March 2014 reforming French insolvency proceedings was published in the Official Journal of the French Republic (Journal officiel de la République Française) on 14 March 2014.

Considered a priority by the Government, the objectives of this reform include, notably, favoring preventative measures and increasing the powers of creditors.¹ Below are the principal provisions which will enter into force on 1 July 2014:

Amicable proceedings: mandat ad hoc, conciliation proceeding

A new form of bankruptcy procedure, Accelerated Financial Safeguard (sauvegarde financière accélérée, “AFS”) was adopted by the French Parliament on October 22, 2010.

1. Introduction

On 25 August 2010, the German government published a draft of an Act for the Restructuring and Orderly Liquidation of Credit Institutions, for the Establishment of Restructuring Fund for Credit Institutions and for the Extension of the Limitation Period of Corporate Law Management Liability (Restrukturierungsgesetz, the “German Restructuring Act”). It is anticipated that the German Restructuring Act will soon be introduced to the German parliament and be passed quickly.  

On May 14, 2009, Judge Allan Gropper of the US Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York, approved a US$400 million DIP financing package in the US$27 billion General Growth Properties, Inc. (“GGP”) Chapter 11 case. Judge Gropper’s ruling also included approval of GGP’s proposal to use cash flow generated by shopping centers, structured by GGP as bankruptcy remote, special purpose entities, to fund GGP’s ongoing central operations while in bankruptcy.