A recent insolvency law case in the Dutch Supreme Court could have serious consequences for software licensees faced with a bankrupt supplier or licensor. The effect of the judgment may be to render traditional software escrow agreements insufficient and to require additional protective measures.
Summary
On November 1 2007 the State Commission for Insolvency Law presented the Preliminary Bill for an Insolvency Act to the minister of justice. The most important changes to the existing Bankruptcy Act are outlined in this update.
Tax treatment in the hands of the creditor
The Commissioner of Inland Revenue (Commissioner) appealed a decision of Associate Judge Christiansen to approve a payment proposal by Mr Wilson to discharge a debt he owed the Commissioner and thereby avoid a declaration of bankruptcy.
The Supreme Court’s decision in McIntosh v Fisk has confirmed how the courts will deal with claw back claims under the voidable transactions regime in the context of Ponzi schemes. Liquidators’ recoveries will be limited to the fictitious profits for which there was no value given.
In Body Corporate 341188 v Kelly, a judgment debtor sought to overturn an Associate Judge's decision not to set aside a bankruptcy notice. The notice was in respect of a District Court judgment and a costs order obtained by the Body Corporate in a separate High Court proceeding. The debtor argued (among other grounds) that the notice was invalid because it was in respect of two judgment debts rather than one.
The Insolvency Working Group's second and final report, released last week, deals with voidable transactions and Ponzi schemes. It proposes a number of changes to the voidable transaction regime, including returning the “gave value" defence to its earlier, more limited, form.
It makes a range of other recommendations across the law of insolvency. Key among them are that the IRD's preferential debt be subject to a limit, and that gift card and voucher holders be treated as preferential creditors.
Three recent decisions clarify issues around personal bankruptcy proceedings.
These include:
compromise proposals
procedures for substitution of creditors, and
vesting of property disclaimed by the Official Assignee.
Debtors' compromises in bankruptcy proceedings
A bankruptcy notice under the Insolvency Act requires the debtor to pay the debt or compromise the amount owing on terms that satisfy the Court or the creditor.
La Dirección General de Tributos examina, en un contexto de consolidación fiscal, las consecuencias fiscales de una operación en virtud de la cual la entidad dominante condona los créditos que tiene sobre sus filiales, derechos adquiridos previamente por medio de una operación de reestructuración empresarial no acogida al régimen de neutralidad fiscal y registrados por un valor inferior a su nominal.
Recent piece-meal amendments to the Spanish Insolvency Act 2003 seem to have cumulated into a restructuring solution that is starting to be considered predictable, quick and fair, especially when compared to the pre-amendment system. With its new restructuring approach, which shares many of the same characteristics as an English Scheme of Arrangement, Spanish companies have finally been given much-needed space and time to develop an appropriate restructuring strategy.