Die aus Sicht der deutschen Volks- wirtschaft erhebliche Kapitalanlage- tätigkeit von Versicherungsunterneh- men (VU) unterliegt den aufsichts- rechtlichen Vorgaben des Versiche- rungsaufsichtsgesetzes (VAG). Im Hinblick auf die Vorgaben der euro- päischen Solvency II-Richtlinie haben sich mit Inkrafttreten des neuen VAG zum 1. Januar 2016 (VAG n.F.) Ände- rungen der Anforderungen an die Kapitalanlage von VU ergeben. Dies gibt Anlass, einen Blick auf die wichtigsten Neuerungen zu werfen.
A. Bisherige Rechtslage
(BVerfG, Beschluss vom 12.01.2016, Az. 1 BvR 3102/13)
Das Bundesverfassungsgericht hat sich per Beschluss vom 12. Januar 2016 zu der Frage geäußert, ob der Ausschluss juristischer Personen von der Bestellung als Insolvenzverwalter verfassungsgemäß ist oder nicht. Anlass war die Verfassungsbeschwer- de einer auf Insolvenzverwaltung spezialisierten Gesellschaft von Rechtsanwälten, welche zuvor die Aufnahme auf die Vorauswahlliste für Insolvenzverwalter eines Amtsgerichts vergeblich vor den Zivilgerichten zu erstreiten versucht hatte.
(Federal Constitutional Court, judgment dated 12 January 2016, case ref. 1 BvR 3102/13)
Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court has now ruled on whether the exclusion of legal entities from being appointed as insolvency administrator is constitutional or not in its judgment dated 12 January 2016. The ruling was triggered by a constitutional complaint from a firm of lawyers specialising in insolvency administration, which had previously argued in vain before the civil courts for inclusion by a local court on its pre-selected list of insolvency administrators.
The economically significant investment activity by insurance companies is subject to the regulatory requirements of the German Insurance Supervision Act (Versiche rungsaufsichtsgesetz – VAG). With regard to the provisions of the European Solvency II Directive, changes to the requirements for capital investments of insurance companies have resulted from the new VAG which came into effect as of 01 January 2016 (VAG new). This gives us cause to take a look at the most important changes.
A. Former legal situation
Mit seinem Urteil vom 10. Dezember 2015, Az. C-594 / 14, hat der EuGH entschieden, dass die Haftung eines Geschäftsführers für verbotene Aus- zahlungen nach Insolvenzreife nach §64 GmbHG eine insolvenzrechtliche Regelung darstellt und deshalb dem Anwendungsbereich der EuInsVO unterliegt.
In its ruling dated 10 December 2015, case ref. C-594 / 14, the ECJ decided that the liability of a managing director for prohibited payments following insolvency under section 64 of the GmbHG is a provision covered by insolvency law and therefore falls within the scope of application of the EU Insolvency Regulation.
The Court of Cassation (29 March 2016, No. 6045) ruled that the look-back period for claw-back actionsstarts from the concordato filing, when bankruptcy was declared after a period of time, provided thatboth procedures refer to the same insolvency situation
The case
The Court of Bolzano (5 April 2016) confirms that revolving credit facility agreements providing forancillary set-off and collection terms in favour of the bank can be suspended, but the bank is protectedbecause the amounts collected are controlled by the Judicial Commissioner
The case
The Court of Modena (8 February 2016) challenged precedents of the Court of Cassation ruling thatdelayed payment of secured creditors is allowed only if the timing would not be shorter in bankruptcyliquidation
The case
Background
On 26 April 2016, the Italian Government has introduced a new reform to shorten the length of the recovery of credit, by approving the decree law no. 59 (the Decree), entered into force on 3 May 2016. The Decree aims at fostering and facilitating the recovery of credit throughout enforcement and insolvency proceedings.
The main innovations concern: