La Ley 25/2015, de 28 de julio, de mecanismo de segunda oportunidad, reducción de la carga financiera y otras medidas de orden social, ratifica y convalida el contenido del Real Decreto Ley 1/2015, de 27 de febrero, modificando, entre otras, la Ley Concursal (“LC”).

The 5th Final Provision of Law 40/2015, of 1 October, on the Regulation of the Public Sector (Ley 40/2015, de 1 de octubre, de Régimen Jurídico del Sector Público –“LRJSP”), published in the Official State Gazette on 2 October 2015, amends several precepts of the Insolvency Law (“LC”), including Article 90.1.6 LC. Specifically, the following text has been added to this precept:

A credit institution appealed the ruling that approved the agreement claiming that the creditors meeting had allowed the presence and vote by a city council that, in its opinion, did not have such right because it was the holder of 100% of the share capital of the insolvent party.

This ruling resolved an issue originating from a personal and joint and several guarantee granted by two companies to secure the obligations assumed by a Dutch company under a junior financing agreement. In light of the Dutch company's default on one of its payments under that agreement, the creditor companies sued the debtor, and the court issued a resolution ordering the debtor company to pay the amount claimed.

Cuatrecasas, Gonrcalves Pereira has advised GRUPO EMPRESARIAL ALCO on submitting and processing the early composition agreement with the company's creditors, attaining the approval of the competent court within 10 months of the company's declaration of insolvency.

A company's insolvency is requested by three of its creditors whose credits originated from a syndicated financing agreement signed with other credit institutions. The three creditors seeking the insolvency request that they all be recognized a general privilege of 50% of their credits and that the entirety of their respective credits be considered in calculating this general privilege, excluding subordinated credits only.

This ruling resolves the financial creditors' challenge to the approval of a refinancing agreement extending the deferral stipulated and the modification of the margins added to the Euribor to them. As grounds for their opposition, they claim that the 75% majority of the financial liabilities necessary to extend the reduction of the applicable margin whereby, in their opinion, such reduction entailed debt relief was not present.

Key Points

• Court considers the impact of the Spanish Insolvency Act on guarantees governed by English law
• Court holds that the liability under the guarantee was not extinguished

The Facts

The Provincial Court of Zaragoza has ruled on an appeal lodged by the General Treasury of Social Security against a Mercantile Court decision approving a liquidation plan that considered the transfer of the insolvent company as a productive unit and exonerated the buyer from social security debts.

The legal issue to consider was whether the magistrate of the Mercantile Court had the power to declare the buyer of an insolvent company exempt from paying the social security debts acquired prior to said transfer, as it did.

The Spanish High Court has recently issued a decisión (cassation appeal) confirming that insolvency proceedings are not a valid reason to justify non-use of a trademark. It is the 22nd December ruling (see here).