A recent judgment in Kevin Hellard & Ors v OJSC Rossiysky Kredit Bank (in liquidation) & Ors [2024] EWHC 1783 (Ch) the High Court considers the ‘ownership and control’ test in Bankruptcy, involving trustee powers and Russian Bank creditors.

In today's rapidly evolving business landscape, businesses find themselves at the intersection of technological innovation and geopolitical and economic turbulence. Despite the increased reliance on software systems and digital infrastructure, it remains peculiar that in many EU Member States there's still no clear framework for handling software licenses in insolvency.

On 27 May 2024, the draft bill on transfer of undertaking in bankruptcy (in Dutch: Wetsvoorstel overgang van onderneming in faillissement, the WOVOF) was made available for internet consultation. The WOVOF aims to increase the protection of employees in case of bankruptcy, and more particular, in case of a restart (in Dutch: doorstart). The WOVOF introduces, amongst other things, an obligation for the acquirer in a restart to (in principle) offer employment to all employees from the bankrupt company. This and other measures will be discussed in detail in this this news blog. 

In a recent judgment¹, the High Court determined (contrary to the arguments of the affected secured creditor) that a debenture created a floating charge rather than a fixed charge over certain internet protocol (IP) addresses. Whilst elements of the decision are inevitably fact-specific, some broader lessons and reminders can be taken from the judgment which will be of general relevance to lenders when taking security.

Matthew Czyzyk, Natalie Blanc, Natalie Raine and Emily Ma, Ropes & Gray

This is an extract from the 2024 edition of GRR's Europe, Middle East and Africa Restructuring Review. The whole publication is available here.

This overview includes case law since mid-2022 and provides an overview of legal amendments that have a practical impact on national and international contracts.

Insolvency-based rescission clauses

Introduction:

Under the Law on Bankruptcy 2014, creditors (chủ nợ) of a bankrupt enterprise include unsecured creditors, partially secured creditors (chủ nợ có bảo đảm một phần) and secured creditors (chủ nợcó bảo đảm). While it is not entirely clear, it appears that partially secured creditors are considered as a separate class of creditors and have their own rights during a bankruptcy proceeding.

Under the Law on Bankruptcy 2014,

Avoidance actions are a household staple for insolvency administrators to increase the insolvency estate in Austria. The current European Commission’s Proposal for a Directive (COM (2022)702) now aims to harmonise contestation rights in insolvency across all European member states.

Belgium had accumulated a significant legislative backlog within insolvency law. The European Directive 2019/1023 on restructuring had to be transposed into national law by the member states by 17 July 2022 at the latest. The Belgian government did not submit a draft bill to this effect until 20 March 2023. This draft has since been voted into law and will enter into force on 1 September 2023.

Several amendments are being made to (among others) Book XX of the Belgian Economic Law. The main amendments are briefly discussed below.