2018-ban indult a magyar fizetésképtelenségi jog reformjával kapcsolatos munka az Igazságügyi Minisztérium irányításával. A 2019. októberében tartott 43. Jogász Vándorgyűlésen dr. Bogdán Tibor kormánybiztos, dr. Bodzási Balázs tanszékvezető (Budapesti Corvinus Egyetem), dr. Zsombolyay Péter főosztályvezető (IM) és dr. Fabók Zoltán ügyvéd (DLA Piper Hungary) fejtették ki álláspontjukat a folyamatban lévő kodifikáció egyes kérdéseivel kapcsolatban.

• Az Igazságügyi Minisztérium 2018-ban látott hozzá az új Fizetésképtelenségi Törvény előkészítéséhez, amely kapcsán erős szakmai igények fogalmazódtak meg – többek között a reorganizáció elősegítését vagy a hitelezők nagyobb arányú megtérítését illetően.
• A 2019 nyarán hatályba lépett Szerkezetátalakítási Irányelv lehetőséget biztosít egy eddig a magyar jogban nem létező eljárás, az ún.

Although no insolvency law-specific regulatory changes have been introduced in Hungary due to COVID-19, the Hungarian Government has adopted numerous extraordinary measures that may have a profound effect on how companies deal with solvency and liquidity related problems under the new circumstances.

Firstly, although the bankruptcy procedure is to be initiated by the management of the company, the prior approval of the main body of the company (ie the shareholders) is required. Due to the curfew currently in effect, in-person shareholders’ meetings are mostly prohibited.

Summary

The Hungarian Ministry of Justice acknowledged the recent criticism aimed at the difficulties regarding the enforcement of monetary claims in the country and plans to amend the relevant laws to make creditors' lives easier. As currently envisaged, these amendments will in the near future change such fundamental laws as the Civil Code, the act on court enforcement, and the act on insolvency and bankruptcy proceedings. This article provides a summary of the envisaged amendments.
 
Civil Code

Hungarian insolvency law provides for a right of the liquidator to terminate, with immediate effect, contracts concluded by the debtor, or – in case neither of the parties rendered any services – to rescind the contract. This applies even in cases where contractual provisions or relevant legislation would otherwise prohibit the termination of the given contract.

The main aim of the revision of the Hungarian Bankruptcy Law, effective September 2009, was to make the bankruptcy proceeding more attractive for creditors as well as debtors, to make clearing debt in the course of a bankrutpcy proceeding more effective and, with the increasing number of bankruptcy agreements, to decrease the number of liquidators.  

From 4 August 2011 special insolvency rules now apply to those Hungarian companies which the Government classifies as “highly important” from a national economic perspective. Insolvency proceedings can be started as a special procedure.

Classification

A new electronic database of bankruptcy and liquidation petitions, open to any company, is being set up by the National Judicial Office.

This will enable any company to obtain a certificate showing whether it has had a bankruptcy or liquidation petition filed or liquidation proceedings initiated against it (but in each case not yet finally decided).

The introduction of the database and certificate system into the Bankruptcy Code is the result of concerted lobbying by the American Chamber of Commerce in Hungary and CMS Budapest Office.

Shareholders who fail to intervene to stem the losses in a company they control may be held personally liable for the company’s debts if it is subsequently liquidated, according to the Supreme Court.

Under Hungarian law, a shareholder’s liability (in a limited liability company) is usually limited to their capital contribution. The corporate ‘veil’ can only be pierced (making the shareholder personally liable for the company’s debts) in special circumstances.