Dutch football club ADO Den Haag has filed for WHOA proceedings after its major shareholder failed to pay €2 million due to the club, leaving it unable to meet its financial obligations.
The decision
From 1 July 2021, directors in the UK could be subject to a wrongful trading claim if their company goes into liquidation or administration.
Wrongful trading
This means that directors may be personally liable to contribute to the company’s assets:
The Hong Kong government will introduce a long-awaited statutory corporate rescue procedure (CRP) in 2021, bringing the regime more in line with international practice in jurisdictions such as the UK and the USA.
The current lack of a CRP in Hong Kong means that there are limited options available to distressed companies and the lack of a moratorium on creditor enforcement jeopardises legitimate restructuring efforts. The Companies (Corporate Rescue) Bill is timely given the difficulties brought by the current economic downturn, itself exacerbated by the impact of COVID-19.
The German Federal Court of Justice was recently asked to decide whether a waiver in favour of company director had been validated by the preliminary insolvency administrator's consent.
Background
A recent decision of the Swiss Federal Supreme Court clarified the question whether a Swiss ancillary bankruptcy estate has standing to contest a schedule of claims of a bankrupt Swiss third-party debtor if the foreign bankruptcy estate filed the respective claims directly and regardless of the recognition of the foreign bankruptcy decree. In essence, the Swiss Federal Supreme Court denied the standing of the ancillary bankruptcy estate as it may in such cases not be considered a creditor of the respective claims.
Austria is gearing up to implement the EU Directive on Restructuring and Insolvency (known as the Restructuring Directive). We anticipate that the Restructuring Regulation (ReO) will enter into force on 17 July 2021.
The core element of the Restructuring Directive (and of the implementing law) is the promotion of a new restructuring procedure, to avoid the need for formal insolvency proceedings.
The restructuring proceedings
The COVID-19 crisis has emphasised the importance of having performant insolvency proceedings. As of now, new measures are in force which aim to optimise the judicial reorganisation procedure. We elaborate on the three most relevant changes.
Belgian insolvency law organises two main types of insolvency proceedings: bankruptcy (faillissement/faillite) which is a winding-up proceeding and judicial reorganisation (gerechtelijke reorganisatie/réorganisation judiciaire) which is a safeguard proceeding.
Wie Bauunternehmen und Bauherren vorbeugen können
Seit dem vierten Quartal 2020 sind die Preise für Baustoffe stark angezogen. Medienberichten zufolge verteuerte sich allein der Preis für Holz um 15-20 %, der Preis für Mineralölerzeugnisse steigerte sich um 15 %, für Dieselkraftstoffe um 20 %. EPS-Dämmstoffe für Fassaden kosten sogar rund 25 % mehr, als dies noch im Dezember der Fall war. Betonstahl ist seit September nochmals um 30 % teurer geworden.
Following the introduction of the Dutch Court Approval of a Private Composition (Prevention of Insolvency) Act (the WHOA), the first court approval for a private composition was granted on 19 February 2021.