In 2019, the European Parliament and the Council adopted the Preventive Restructuring Directive (2019/1023), providing for minimum harmonisation of, among others, preventive restructuring frameworks (PRF). This book provides in-depth analyses of its implementation in seven European countries: Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, The Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. Whereas Member States of the European Union were under a duty to complete implementation by July 2022, the United Kingdom took inspiration from it when voluntarily introducing reforms to its restructuring regime. This book covers detailed analyses of the new or reformed PRFs across Europe, including the objective and scope of a PRF, the criteria/test to enter a PRF, the involved actors, the possibilities for a stay, the plan, the possibilities for a debt-for-equity swap, the effects of a PRF on executory contracts and jurisdiction and recognition of court decisions taken during a PRF. Drawing on the domestic implementations, the book also presents a comparative study evaluating the different policy options implemented by domestic legislators. This book functions as an insightful source for practitioners, academics and policy makers. This book series is published under the aegis of the Leiden Business and Law Research Network (BLRN). This research and expertise network conducts research on the various aspects of doing business in the context of company and insolvency law. BLRN pays particular focus on topics such as corporate governance, corporate sustainability, mergers and acquisitions, and restructuring and insolvency. www.universiteitleiden.nl/blrn

The Directive on Restructuring and Insolvency sets minimum standards for restructuring and certain insolvency matters, but its harmonization effect will be limited given multiple options for implementation, likely leading to divergent restructuring models in Europe. These options reveal different policy approaches to the regulation of restructuring and insolvency. The analysis in this paper aims to illustrate the breadth of the policy choices and their consequences for restructuring activity. States should carefully design restructuring procedures to avoid the negative economic effects of certain options that could undermine creditors’ rights or result in unpredictable outcomes, particularly in cross-border cases.

This comprehensive book provides a clear analysis of the European Restructuring Directive, which aims to improve national frameworks governing business restructuring and insolvency as well as to provide debt relief for individuals. Gerard McCormack explores the key aspects of the Directive including the moratorium on litigation and enforcement claims against the financially-troubled business, the provision for new financing, the division of creditors into classes, the introduction of a restructuring plan and the rules for approval of the plan by a court or administrative authority.

Through the proposed amendment of the EU Directive 2012/30/EU, the European Commission seeks the EU-wide implementation of a Preventive Restructuring Framework. The key objective is reduction of the likelihood of insolvency of generally viable businesses with (temporary) financial difficulties. Parallel to the Commission's efforts, the Dutch legislator published a detailed draft bill regulating the sanctioning of pre-insolvency composition. In the EU proposal and the Netherlands' draft legislation, relevant tax implications are not addressed. This may cause uncertainty and incentives for parties involved that interfere with the objective of a pre-insolvency composition. This article examines the Dutch tax aspects - for the debtor and involved creditors and shareholders - of common discharge and restructuring solutions in a binding restructuring plan. With every subject, general tax aspects are identified that may be relevant for other jurisdictions as well. It shows that a pre-insolvency composition may have important tax implications and that in some cases creditors and shareholders could even prefer bankruptcy over restructuring. The authors are of the opinion that the Dutch scheme needs further clarification and believe it even requires specific tax regulation. The authors recommend other EU Member States to assess the national tax elements of a binding pre-insolvency composition upon the implementation of the Preventive Restructuring Framework.

The European Directive (Directive (EU) 2019/1023 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2020 on preventive restructuring frameworks, on discharge of debts and disqualification, and on measures to increase the efficiency of procedures concerning restructuring, insolvency and discharge of debt) has to be transposed into national legislation by 26 June 2021. The main features of the Directive are: - the obligatory making available of early warning systems; - the obligatory creation of an insolvency avoidance mechanism; - the determination of certain insolvency related officers' duties; - the uniformisation of discharge rules among member states; and - measures to increase the national insolvency laws' efficiency In this book a team of European-wide recognised, experienced insolvency law experts, some of whom had been involved in the drafting process of the Directive, analyse the Directive. The authors focus not only on the officials tasked in the national surroundings with drafting the national statutes but also on the wider implications which, one way or the other, will be national law. The commentary, thus, serves also the purposes of practitioners and judges in the field of restructuring.