The Czech Government has prepared several measures that should help people and businesses in the challenging times related to the outbreak of COVID-19. These measures are currently divided into several draft laws, covering topics such as insolvency, loans, leases, employment, and court proceedings. We have chosen relevant fields briefly described below and we will provide more detailed information about these relevant fields once the final laws are passed by the Parliament (which should be shortly due to the state of legislative emergency).

Act on the Mitigation of the Impact of an Epidemic”).

The Act on the Mitigation of the Impact of an Epidemic contains a number of significant changes, particularly in the areas of procedural, insolvency and corporate law. The changes seek to respond to the consequences of the emergency measures taken by public authorities as a result of the Coronavirus COVID-19 (hereinafter the “Coronavirus”) epidemic (hereinafter the “Epidemic”).

On 1 July 2017, a major amendment to the Czech Insolvency Act came into effect. The amendment introduces a change to the definition of insolvency – the term liquidity gap. Debtors, who are entrepreneurs and keep accounting books, will now be allowed to prove that they are able to pay their due monetary liabilities by proving the possession of a sufficient amount of available funds or by proving that they are able to obtain such funds in the near future. Thus, in simple terms, a liquidity gap means in this connection a lack of available funds for the payment of due liabilities.

The Insolvency Act has significantly strengthened the position of creditors in comparison with the former Bankruptcy and Composition Act. Nevertheless, the position of a creditor is fundamentally affected by its voting rights, by which it may influence countless decisions.

However, many disputed issues arise in practice, for example, whether a creditor with a contested claim or a creditor affiliated with a debtor may vote. In this context, the new rules regarding voting rights cannot be ignored.

New regulation of voting rights for disputed claims

Introduction

schönherr journal www.schoenherr.eu 02/2017 S  cílem harmonizovat a  posílit ochranu proti odcizení obchodního tajemství na úrovni EU byla minulý rok přijata Směrnice Evropského parlamentu a  Rady (EU) 2016/943 ze dne 8. června 2016 o  ochraně nezveřejněného know-how a  obchodních informací (obchodního tajemství) před jejich neoprávněným získáním, využitím a zpřístupněním (dále jen „Směrnice“). V návaznosti na zavádění Směrnice do českého právního řádu dozná určitých změn dosud platná právní ochrana obchodního tajemství.

Intensive debate is currently under way in EU bodies on the proposal for a directive that could have a substantial impact on insolvency proceedings and the restructuring process in individual EU Member States. The proposal No. 2016/0359/COD[1] (“Proposal”) submitted by the European Commission envisages, among other things, the establishment of a legal framework governing informal restructuring of corporations’ financial engagement (“Informal Restructuring”).

Welcome to the inaugural edition of 'Going concerns', in which we strive to bring you the latest updates on restructuring and insolvency law. For this issue, we focus on Singapore and provide:

The definition of insolvency is a key element of the insolvency law. It opens the gate for tools that enable creditors to safeguard their rights vis-à-vis their debtors. This week, the Czech Supreme Court published a ground-breaking decision which addresses a crucial aspect of balance-sheet insolvency. Many other issues, however, still remain unresolved.

Definition of insolvency

As in other jurisdictions, the Czech Insolvency Act anticipates two forms of insolvency -- cash-flow insolvency (illiquidity test) and balance-sheet insolvency (over-indebtedness).

Introduction

Regarding M&A deal activity in emerging Europe, 2019 seems to have been a year of mixed sentiments. While both the overall value and volume of M&A deals in the region were down year-on-year, many M&A professionals claim anecdotally that it was a more buoyant year than the previous one. There are also predictions that investment activity in emerging Europe will increase even further in the next 12 months.