De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) began the process of appointing receivers Monday for DSB Bank NA (DSB) after DSB experienced a “run” when rumors of its insolvency spread via Twitter and other outlets.

DSB Bank (DSB), a small Dutch lender, has been declared bankrupt on 19 October 2009. Other Dutch banks will now have to guarantee DSB's deposits. The Dutch central bank said on 19 October 2009 that it had activated the national deposit guarantee system to deal with the bankruptcy, and that it expects eligible depositors to be reimbursed by Christmas. The banks will have to pay into the guarantee system in proportion to their market share.

In Intext Coatings Ltd (In Liquidation) v Deo, the High Court was again asked to consider the limits of the equitable remedy of tracing (previously considered here). In particular, the Court was asked to consider the circumstances in which 'backward tracing' (the tracing of trust funds used to repay a debt into the asset over which that debt arose) is available.

Year in Review – Spanish Law in 2016

Two general elections were held in Spain recently (the first in December 2015) and the various political parties were unable to reach an agreement to form a government until October 2016. This meant a major slowdown in law-making activity. The following are the main legislative changes and case-law precedents from 2016:

The remaining credit after the cancelation of its guarantee through an assignment in lieu of payment (dación en pago) in favor of a creditor with a lower-ranking guarantee is an ordinary credit and cannot be subject to a new classification

It used to be the case that mortgage creditors could rest easy knowing they held a mortgage, and that they would be repaid with the proceeds of the sale of the mortgaged asset, even in the event of an insolvency.

Rescission of an extension to a mortgage granted by the insolvent company securing a preexisting debt of a company of its group

The rescission was declared of a mortgage the insolvent company  granted over a  warehouse it owned in guarantee of the  loan a credit institution  had  granted to a company of its group. The Supreme Court declared (i) that the contextual guarantee was  for consideration and (ii) the need for proof of the profit (even indirect) of the guarantor  company without merely belonging to the  group sufficing, and  confirmed that the  rescission only affected the guarantee and not the loan.

These resolutions clarify the circumstances in which an appraisal certificate is required to create and amend mortgages following the reform of the Rules of Civil Law Procedure under Act 1/2013.

Guarantees granted by a group company for securing a loan used to repay the insolvent party’s personal debts are detrimental to the insolvency estate. Article 10 of the Mortgage Market Act refers solely to mortgages that are already part of an issue of mortgage securities.