Introduction This briefing complements our other publications on corporate restructuring and the sale or purchase of distressed assets.  

What are the options for companies in financial difficulty in the PRC?  

Throughout the global economic meltdown, the number of bankruptcy cases in China has risen considerably. To shed light on bankruptcy proceedings and stabilize the domestic economy, the Supreme People’s Court of the PRC issued Opinions on Several Issues Regarding the Proper Adjudication of Enterprise Bankruptcy Cases to Provide a Judicial Safeguard for Maintaining Order in the Market Economy on June 12, 2009. The Opinions direct courts at all levels to properly apply the Enterprise Bankruptcy Law (EBL) to assist insolvent enterprises, maintain market order, and stabilize the economy.

INTRODUCTION

The use of trusts for asset protection purposes is well established and – in principle – not improper. However, recent history has seen increasing attempts by creditors to have transfers of assets unwound. A recent UK Supreme Court case saw the Court effectively achieve this by way of a resulting trust finding.1 This article considers the issue from a different angle: insolvency legislation.

1. Introduction

The system of claim enforcement in Croatia is primarily regulated by two core laws: (i) Enforcement Act (Official Gazette No. 112/2012 and 25/2013) determining procedure of mandatory enforcement of claims including the procedure of voluntary security of claims; and (ii) the Act on Enforcement of Financial Assets (Official Gazette No. 112/2012) providing legal framework for the enforcement of claims against financial assets.

Until entering into force of the Enforcement Act in 1996, the system of enforcement in Croatia had been regulated by the Act on Execution Procedure, a law which was inherited in a procedure of succession from former Yugoslavia. Since 1996 the system of enforcement underwent a number of substantial changes which main purpose was to make enforcement procedure more effective and at the same time less cumbersome for debtors.

On 1 July 2017 a new amendment to the Czech Insolvency Act came into force. One of the most significant changes introduced by the amendment relates to the assessment of insolvency of the debtor, performed by means of the cash-flow insolvency test.

Under Czech law, the debtor is insolvent if it has several creditors, due and payable debts for more than 30 days, and it is not able to fulfill them.

Under Czech law, insolvency petitions (regardless of whether they are filed by a creditor or debtor) and all other insolvency documents must be published in the Insolvency Register by the insolvency court within two hours of receipt. The register is publicly accessible online. Since the launch of the register in 2008, it has served as an effective, modern and transparent tool within the insolvency regulation framework. However, this transparency has also had negative side effects.

Debt relief procedure

KEY POINTS

Reorganisation is one of the means of resolving a company’s insolvency under Czech law. In the course of reorganisation the debtor’s enterprise continues to carry out its business activity within the framework set out by the reorganisation plan. The aim of reorganisation is a recovery of the debtor’s business and settlement of the relationships between the debtor and his creditors.

Generally, the reorganisation is not available to company which is;