The Italian Government has enacted Law Decree no. 23/2020, which was published in the Official Journal on April 8, 2020 and entered into force starting from April 9, 2020 (the "Decree"), introducing various new measures aimed, inter alia, at supporting companies affected financially by COVID-19 outbreak and shutdown in Italy. This newsflash outlines the measures rescheduling the entry into force of the Insolvency law regime and relaxing certain corporate law requirements, and looks at which companies will be eligible to take advantage of the new provisions.
On 8 April 2020, the Council of Ministers approved Law Decree no. 23, published in the Official Gazette (General Series no. 94, Extraordinary Edition of 8 April, 2020), containing “Urgent measures related to access to credit and tax obligations for businesses, special powers in strategic industry sectors, as well as healthcare and employment interventions, prorogation of administrative and procedural deadlines”.
This quick guide summarises the duties that directors of companies incorporated in Italy are subject to, and how those duties change when the company is insolvent or at risk of being insolvent.
It also gives an overview of the personal risk to directors when the company is in financial difficulty.
This note is intended as an overview and should not be relied on as legal advice. Should you require legal advice in relation to your specific circumstances, please contact the Restructuring & Insolvency team members whose contact details are at the end of this note.
Summary
Our experience working on restructurings across Europe and Asia has given us an appreciation for the value of preparedness. Businesses encountering financial difficulties — whether arising from turbulent financial markets, an unforeseen crisis, increasing or burdensome regulation or competitive pressure — often find their survival may depend on how well prepared they were for the unique pressures a restructuring event brings.
In addition to the new legal concepts introduced by Amendment 19, several recent high-profile bankruptcy cases have indicated that Israeli insolvency law generally is in a state of transition.
BNP Paribas – IDB Development Company
26 November 2013
[2013] EWHC 3689 (Comm)
Commercial Court, Queen's Bench Division (Burton J)
Foreign insolvency proceedings do not override arbitration agreements
The trustee of a large bankruptcy in Israel commenced proceedings in the Israeli insolvency court against Dr Bannai to recover assets (worth $150m) said to be due to the bankrupt under a 2002 agreement. The 2002 agreement was governed by English law and contained a London arbitration clause which it was accepted covered the claims in question.
The Rescheduling of Indebtedness of Large Israeli Companies
2013 was the year when repayment obligations finally caught up with some of Israel’s largest corporate borrowers.
Latham & Watkins operates worldwide as a limited liability partnership organized under the laws of the State of Delaware (USA) with affiliated limited liability partnerships conducting the practice in France, Hong Kong, Italy, Singapore, and the United Kingdom and as an affiliated partnership conducting the practice in Japan. Latham & Watkins operates in South Korea as a Foreign Legal Consultant Office. Latham & Watkins works in cooperation with the Law Office of Salman M. Al-Sudairi in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Latham & Watkins operates worldwide as a limited liability partnership organized under the laws of the State of Delaware (USA) with affiliated limited liability partnerships conducting the practice in France, Italy, Singapore, and the United Kingdom and as affiliated partnerships conducting the practice in Hong Kong and Japan. Latham & Watkins operates in South Korea as a Foreign Legal Consultant Office. Latham & Watkins works in cooperation with the Law Office of Salman M. Al-Sudairi in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Bankruptcy agreement procedure
Bankruptcy agreements are governed by Articles 124 to 141 of the Bankruptcy Law and aim to speed up bankruptcy proceedings. Bankruptcy proceedings are closed either on the liquidation of assets and distribution of the proceeds or as a result of a bankruptcy agreement.
Under Article 124, a bankruptcy agreement can be proposed during the course of a bankruptcy by: