On 27 March 2023, the European Commission concluded that an Italian loan of EUR 400 million granted in 2019 in favour of Alitalia constituted illegal and incompatible aid that has to be reimbursed.
Alitalia has benefitted from numerous public support measures over the years. The airline found itself in a financial pickle and was declared bankrupt in May 2017. To ensure the continuity of its operations, the Italian State provided the airline with two loans, one of EUR 900 million granted in 2017 and the second of EUR 400 million in 2019.
The Belgian legislator is preparing a legal framework on insolvency law to expand the restructuring toolbox. On 26 March 2023, a draft bill was published transposing EU Directive 2019/1023 on restructuring and insolvency. The Bill should be voted before the summer holidays. Our Restructuring & Insolvency team has identified five things you need to know about the upcoming changes.
In the first case of its kind since Re Business City Limited ([1997] 2 BCLC 510) in 1997, and only the second ever such case, the High Court of England and Wales made an order on 5 April 2023 recognising and giving the force of law in England and Wales to a scheme of arrangement in an Irish examinership. The High Court of Northern Ireland made a similar order in the same case on 3 April 2023.
The commercial judges of Madrid publish a guidefor the appointment of an expert on insolvency pre-pack
Alexandros Kontogeorgiou and Georgia Papathanasiou, Kontogeorgiou Bakopanou & Associates Law Firm
This is an extract from the 2023 edition of GRR's Europe, Middle East and Africa Restructuring Review. The whole publication is available here.
Matthew Czyzyk, Natalie Blanc, Natalie Raine and Emily Ma, Ropes & Gray
This is an extract from the 2023 edition of GRR's Europe, Middle East and Africa Restructuring Review. The whole publication is available here.
Ongoing innovation of the Belgian insolvency law : change of the current law and a new proposal for a European bankruptcy Directive !
Insolvency law in Belgium will be subject to a lot of change, through the transposition of two consecutive directives of the European Union and the implementation of the case law of the European Court of Justice. The first changes in the law are imminent. The main tendencies of the upcoming evolution are explained in the contribution below.
On 7 December 2022, the European Commission unveiled a draft directive (2022/0408 (COD)) (the “Directive”) proposing to harmonise certain aspects of insolvency laws across the European Union[1].
On 7 December 2022, the European Commission published its proposal for a directive harmonising certain aspects of insolvency law (the Insolvency Directive).
The Insolvency Directive seeks to offer more certainty and create a common minimum standard of insolvency regimes across member states, encouraging more effective cross-border investment.
It aims to harmonise three key areas of EU insolvency law (the Insolvency Directive).
Aims law:
the recovery of assets
the efficiency of proceedings
On 7 December 2022, the European Commission published its proposal for a directive harmonising certain aspects of insolvency law (the Insolvency Directive).
Aims
The Insolvency Directive seeks to offer more certainty and create a common minimum standard of insolvency regimes across Member States, encouraging more effective cross-border investment.
It aims to harmonise three key areas of EU insolvency law:
the recovery of assets
the efficiency of proceedings, and