On 9 April the Polish Parliament adopted a bill implementing the so-called “second chance” policy for businesses, pursued at the EU level.

The Act introduces a clear separation between restructuring proceedings and bankruptcy proceedings. As the latter are commonly perceived as stigmatising, the initiation of bankruptcy can hinder successful restructuring. The new Act introduces four new types of restructuring proceedings, i.e.:

Poland – protective and secondary insolvency proceedings can run in parallel in different Member States

Secondary insolvency proceedings may be begun in the member state where the debtor has an establishment, when main proceedings with a protective purpose are already pending in another member state, according to the ECJ.

Protective proceedings (known as ‘sauvegarde’ proceedings) are those where the debtor proves that he is not insolvent but is faced with difficulties, financial and otherwise, that he cannot overcome.

November 2017 saw the first successful pre-packaged bankruptcy of a wind farm operator following the introduction of this procedure to Polish bankruptcy law in January 2016. Thanks to a decision made by the bankruptcy court in Warsaw, the assets of the 6 MW wind farm in Korzęcin can now be taken over by a publicly listed company operating in the renewable energy sector.

According to S&P Global fixed income research, EUR 3.7 trillion of rated European company debt is due to mature between mid-2017 and the end of 2022.This gives rise to anticipation that, in the coming years, the European financial markets will be increasingly driven by refinancing, restructuring and investment in distressed assets. Respondents to the survey “Changing tides: European M&A Outlook 2017” prepared by CMS in cooperation with Mergermarket in September 2017 have also remarked on this trend.

September 2016 CMS_LawTax_Negative_28-100.eps Enforcing Security over Real Estate and Shares across Europe 2 | Enforcing Security over Real Estate and Shares across Europe 3 Introduction 4 Albania 5 Austria 6 Belgium 7 Bulgaria 8 Czech Republic 9 England and Wales 10 France 11 Germany 12 Hungary 13 Italy 14 Luxembourg 15 Montenegro 16 Netherlands 17 Poland 18 Portugal 19 Romania 20 Russia 21 Scotland 22 Serbia 23 Slovakia 24 Slovenia 25 Spain 26 Turkey 27 Ukraine 28 Contacts Contents 19 practice and sector groups working across offices Ranked 2nd most global law firm in the Am Law 2015 Glob

On 7 September 2015 an act amending the Civil Procedure Code was published. The amendments include changes to proceedings on the enforcement of liabilities. The changes aim to speed up proceedings by computerisation, and at the same time clarify various issues that have arisen in the application of existing regulations.

Saudi Arabia takes out $10 billion in bank loans

The new year will bring tremendous changes to the Polish insolvency regime as significant amendments to the Bankruptcy and Recovery Law (Journal of Laws 2015, No. 233, uniform text) come into force on 1 January 2016 (New Bankruptcy Law). The aim of the New Bankruptcy Law is to make existing legal instruments more effective and to help business entities survive financial stress or distress. 

Overview

Ruling description

In the judgment of August 18, 2015 (case no. II FSK 2510/13) the Supreme Administrative Court confirmed that a registered partnership is excluded from the scope of application of the Capital Duties Directive (69/335/ EEC). Therefore, Restructuring activities in such a company are subject to civil law transactions tax (PCC).

Ruling description

In its judgment of January 15, 2014, the Provincial Administrative Court (WSA) in Warsaw (case no. III SA/Wa 1928/13) ruled that a bankruptcy receiver was not required to correct input tax under the procedure set forth in Art. 89b (1) of the VAT Act (in the version which took effect on January 1, 2013) if the creditor cannot correct output tax under the “bad debt relief” procedure due to the debtor being bankrupt.