Legislation enabling the immediate liquidation of IBRC (formerly Anglo Irish Bank) was signed into law in the early hours of 7 February. Draft legislation was published on 6 February following media speculation that the Irish Government was preparing plans to liquidate IBRC and was promptly brought before both Houses of the Oireachtas (the Irish Parliament). The Minister for Finance stated that immediate action was necessary in order to prevent any action being taken which could have put IBRC’s assets at risk.

The Personal Insolvency Bill was signed into law by the President on 26 December 2012.

The Act provides for:

The Moldovan Parliament adopted a new insolvency law on 29 June 2012. The In-solvency Act No. 149 (Act No. 149), which will enter into force on 14 March 2013, is evolutionary rather than revolutionary, as its main goal appears to be the optimiza-tion of the existing insolvency procedures.

Following the new act’s entry into force, insolvency cases shall fall under the compe-tence of the court of appeal where the seat of the debtor is located. Also each such court of appeal shall hold a public register of insolvency cases.

Timing

The Personal Insolvency Bill has completed its passage through the Dáil and the Seanad (the Irish Houses of Parliament) and will now be passed to the President for signing into law.

The new legislation has been described by the Minister for Justice as “the most radical and comprehensive reform of our insolvency and bankruptcy law and practice since the foundation of the State.”

It provides for:

An application by Quinn family members to have court-appointed receivers removed and their solicitors discharged on the basis of an alleged conflict of interest and partiality has been dismissed by the Commercial Court.

The Personal Insolvency Bill has completed its passage through the Dáil (lower house of the Oireachtas (the Irish Parliament)). The Bill is now moving through the Seanad (upper house of the Oireachtas), where its provisions are subject to debate and amendment. The Minister for Justice recently confirmed his intention that the Bill will become law by Christmas.

The Bill provides for: 

In a recent High Court case, a liquidator sought an order declaring that certain payments made by a company prior to its liquidation were a ‘fraudulent preference’ and invalid. The company had made payments to its overdrawn bank account which was personally guaranteed by one of its directors. It was alleged that the payments were made in order to reduce the company’s overdraft and therefore, the director’s own personal exposure under the guarantees.

The Austrian Act on Financial Collateral (Finanzsicherheiten-Gesetz; FinSG), which regulates the granting and enforcement of financial collateral arrangements between participants in the financial markets, has recently been amended with effect from 30 June 2011. Changes include the extension of the scope of application of the law.

Since the enactment of the new insolvency law in 2006, its proceedings have been amended many times to improve and simplify bankruptcy. In the past few years, the economic downturn has caused more and more companies to request court protection with the hope of undergoing reorganisation, realising that insolvency need not be the death of the company but, rather, a second chance.

The means of obtaining information on a person’s creditworthiness were broadened in 2011 by launching a pending execution proceedings register kept by the Bulgarian Private Bailiffs Chamber.