Blog on The Hague Court of Appeal, 17 February 2015, ECLI:NL:GHDHA:2015:281 (FGH Bank N.V. v. Aannemingsbedrijf Fraanje B.V.)

Court of Appeal Arnhem-Leeuwarden: a shareholder loan does not in itself have a subordinated character. If subordination has not been specifically agreed, other creditors may file a claim on the basis of tort law or on the principles of reasonableness and fairness in order to achieve a similar result, in other words as if the shareholder loan had been subordinated.

Enactment

On 11 September the Belgian Act that introduces certain measures to restrict the activities of vulture funds (the “Act”) was published in the Belgian Official Journal.

Twin rulings by the District Court for the Southern District of New York, the first of which was issued in December 2014 and the second issued on June 23rd of this year, have created great uncertainty in the bond market regarding whether, when and to what extent Section 316(b) of the Trust Indenture Act (the “TIA”) may now be used by minority bondholders to block out-of-court restructurings, notwithstanding that a particular restructuring is consistent with the provisions of the relevant indenture.

Op 23 juni 2015 zijn de wetsvoorstellen civielrechtelijk bestuursverbod en herziening strafbaarstelling faillissementsfraude door de Tweede Kamer aangenomen. Beide wetsvoorstellen behoren tot het Wetgevingsprogramma Herijking Faillissementsrecht en zijn gericht op fraudebestrijding. Deze wetsvoorstellen zullen mogelijk op 1 januari 2016 in werking treden. 

Het wetgevingsprogramma Herijking Faillissementsrecht bestaat uit drie pijlers, te weten (i) fraudebestrijding; (ii) versterking van het reorganiserend vermogen van bedrijven; en (iii) modernisering van het faillissementsrecht.

On May 4, 2015, in the case Bullard v. Blue Hills Bank, the United States Supreme Court held that debtors in chapter 13 (and presumably chapter 9 and 11 as well) are not entitled as of right to immediately appeal bankruptcy court orders denying confirmation of a proposed plan of reorganization. This ruling, although consistent with a majority of circuit courts of appeal that have considered the issue, reversed governing precedent in several circuit courts—including the Third Circuit, which reviews Delaware bankruptcy court decisions.

In its judgment dated 2 September 2014, the Court of Appeal in The Hague ruled that moveable assets obtained subject to a retention of title (eigendomsvoorbehoud) should be considered future assets, and that ownership of such assets will be acquired after satisfaction of the relevant condition precedent (typically, full payment of the purchase price). A right of pledge over future assets created in advance will not be valid if the pledgor goes bankrupt before acquiring ownership of such assets.

In a judgment dated 20 March 2015, the Dutch Supreme Court ruled that all banks and intermediaries involved in the execution of a bank transfer, including the bank responsible for recording receipt of the bank transfer into the account held with it by the payee, qualify as parties whose services are directly or indirectly used by the payor in connection with the bank transfer.

Een failliet bedrijf kan aanlopen tegen handhavingsacties van bestuursorganen. Hierbij kan bijvoorbeeld worden gedacht aan verontreiniging van gronden onder een industrieel bedrijf, waartegen het bestuursorgaan optreedt door oplegging van lasten met sanering van de gronden als doel. Het bestuursorgaan komt dan de curator als beheerder van de boedel tegen. Kunnen bestuursorganen die bevoegd zijn om tegen bepaalde overtredingen op te treden nu de curator aanspreken tot naleving van de wettelijke verplichtingen ten aanzien van de milieuverontreiniging die voorheen op de onderneming rustten?