The much anticipated Personal Insolvency Bill has been published and introduces wide-ranging measures to seek to deal with the issue of personal debt affecting many people in the country today. The headline changes are the reduction of the period a person is bankrupt from 12 to 3 years and the introduction of three new debt resolution processes which, while being under the jurisdiction of the Courts are predominantly non judicial based processes involving the newly established Insolvency Service.
The Slovenian legislation includes the following types of in rem securities relating to: (i) real properties – mortgage (hipoteka), land debt (zemljiški dolg), real encumbrance (stvarno breme); and (ii) movables and property rights, respectively – pledge (zastavna pravica), retention of title (pridržek lastninske pravice), transfers by way of security (prenos v zavarovanje), and assignment by way of security (odstop v zavarovanje).
Under Bulgarian law, security interests over assets can be created by way of a pledge (залог) of chattels and receivables or a mortgage (ипотека) over real property.
Austrian law recognises pledges (Pfandrechte), security transfers (Sicherungsübereignungen) and security assignments (Sicherungszession).
According to article 11 of Poland’s Bankruptcy and reorganisation law as of 28 Feb-ruary 2003 (Journal of laws 2009, No. 175, position 1361, as amended), a debtor who is a legal person (including, in particular, a limited liability company) is considered to be insolvent when the value of its liabilities exceeds the value of its assets, even if the debtor continues to pay its liabilities (balance sheet insolvency).
On 30 March 2012, the European Commission published a consultation on the future of European insolvency law.
The cornerstone of European insolvency law is Regulation (EC) No 1346/2000, known as the Insolvency Regulation. The Insolvency Regulation has been in force since 31 May 2002 and applies whenever a debtor has assets or creditors in more than one member state. It sets out provisions in relation to jurisdiction, recognition, applicable law and the coordination of insolvency proceedings opened in several member states.
As of January 1, 2012, the Slovak Act on Bankruptcy and Restructuring (Act No. 7/2005 Coll.) has been amended to introduce a statutory subordination of claims of related credi-tors (Section 95(3) of the Slovak Bankruptcy Act). The Amendment affects the ability of creditors to obtain satisfaction from companies in bankruptcy by classifying claims by “related” parties as subordinate to other claims.
On 25 January 2012, the Irish Government published the heads of a proposed new law, the Personal Insolvency Bill, which, it states, has the aim of providing “a new approach to dealing with insolvency” in Ireland.
One of the primary objectives of the reformed Austrian Insolvency Act ("IO"), which entered into force on 1 July 2010, has been to increase the number of successful corporate reorganisations and to facilitate the continuation of business operations during financial crises. After the initiation of insolvency proceedings, the creditors of an insolvent debtor shall not be entitled to revoke or terminate contracts that are essential for continuing the debtor’s business operations.
Coherent and clear rules for restructuring proceedings
The new bankruptcy provisions contained in the Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2011 were commenced yesterday. The Act has been in force since 2 August.
The new provisions allow for automatic discharge on the 12th anniversary of a bankruptcy adjudication order and a reduction in the period for application for discharge from bankruptcy to five years from 12 years.