In 2014, Romania adopted a new insolvency law, which brings together under one piece of legislation all the procedures applicable to companies, groups of companies, credit institutions, insurance and reinsurance companies, as well as insolvency prevention and cross-border insolvency proceedings. Despite repeated legislative attempts, to date Romania does not have a legal framework for the insolvency of natural persons.
After many versions and years of discussions between stakeholders, the Romanian Parliament has finally passed a law establishing the procedure of insolvency of natural persons – the law was published in the Official Gazette on 26 June 2015 ("Personal Insolvency Law") and will become fully effective in six months.
On 26 August 2015, the Board of the Romanian Financial Supervisory Authority (“FSA”) analysed the status of the Romanian insurance undertaking ASTRA SA, considering the report of the special administrator, KPMG Advisory.
According to the FSA, on 30 June 2015, ASTRA SA had: (i) a negative available solvency margin of approximately RON 871 million (approximately EUR 197 million), (ii) a liquidity ratio of 0.03, and (iii) a capital shortage of approximately RON 968 million (approximately EUR 220 million).
Law no. 151 on insolvency procedures for individuals[1] (the “Law”) is expected to enter into force on 26 December 2015. The Law was published on 18 June 2015, but its entry into force was deferred by six months in order to allow the establishment of a new public body to manage insolvency claims, as well as the enactment by the Government of the regulations for the implementation of the Law.
On January 25, 2016, the Romanian court handling the bankruptcy proceeding of Astra SA extended the deadline to file court claims against Astra SA to 17 February 2016. The initial deadline for filing was 18 January 2016. Creditors of Astra SA may wish to avail themselves of this extended deadline to file such claims in order to recover some or part of the amounts owed to them by Astra SA in the bankruptcy/liquidation proceedings.
On 27 July 2016, the Board of the Romanian Financial Supervisory Authority (“FSA”) analysed the status of the Romanian insurance undertaking Carpatica Asig SA, considering several audit and assessment reports. The outcome of the FSA analysis was the commencement of the bankruptcy procedures against Carpatica Asig SA.
On 27 December 2016, the Board of the Romanian Financial Supervisory Authority (“FSA”) analysed the status of the insurance and reinsurance undertaking LIG Insurance SA, ultimately, commencing bankruptcy procedures against LIG Insurance SA and withdrawing its license to carry on insurance and reinsurance activity (FSA Decision 2347/2016).
According to the FSA, on 31 October 2016 the company had: (i) negative own capital of RON 56.2 million; and (ii) a liquidity ratio of 0.44, resulting in concern over its capacity to cover its due obligations using own funds.
From an economic perspective, especially in the current business environment, contractual freedom is the best legal method to satisfy the legitimate interests of individuals and to ensure the general benefit and, consequently, social progress. From this point of view, in any activity, every business is seeking to make a profit. Achieving this depends on a series of determinant factors as well as a certain number of risks which any business should assume when implementing its objectives.
An absolute novelty under the Romanian legislation, Law no. 151/2015 on insolvency of natural persons (“Personal Insolvency Law“) was adopted by the Romanian Parliament back in June 2015. Due to certain administrative reasons (e.g. need of regional administrative bodies specialized on the personal insolvency of natural persons, lack of trained personnel and financial resources), the entry into force of the Personal Insolvency Law has already been postponed three times until now.
Many questions arise when a contractual partner enters into insolvency. One question is what happens with the debtor's ongoing contracts when the insolvency starts? Are they maintained or terminated?
One of the main principles governing insolvency proceedings states that the debtor's reorganisation should be sought before bankruptcy. To this end, the Romanian Insolvency Law (RIL) provides a series articles supporting the debtor's potential reorganisation.