Comparative Insolvency Law argues that the most important development in contemporary insolvency law and practice is the shift towards a rescue culture rather than full creditor satisfaction. This book is the first to specifically examine the rise of the pre-pack approach, which permits debtor companies to formulate a clear pre-arranged exit before entering into formal insolvency proceedings.

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.

This edited volume is based on the European Law Institute's (ELI) project 'Rescue of Business in Insolvency Law'. The project ran from 2013 to 2017 under the auspices of the ELI and was conducted by Bob Wessels and Stephan Madaus, who were assisted by Gert-Jan Boon. The study sought to design (elements of) a legal framework that will enable the further development of coherent and functional rules for business rescue in Europe. This includes certain statutory procedures that could better enable parties to negotiate solutions where a business becomes financially distressed. Such a framework also includes rules to determine in which procedures and under which conditions an enforceable solution can be imposed upon creditors and other stakeholders despite their lack of consent. The project had a broad scope, and extended to consider frameworks that can be used by (non-financial) businesses out of court, and in a pre-insolvency context. Part I of this book, the ELI Instrument as approved by the ELI Council and General Assembly, features 115 recommendations on a wide variety of themes affected by the rescue of financially distressed businesses, such as the legal rules for professions and courts, treatment and ranking of creditors' claims, contract, corporate and labour law as well as laws relating to transaction avoidance. Part II consists of national reports that sketch the legal landscape in 13 States and of an 'Inventory Report on International Recommendations from Standard-Setting Organisations', both of which provided insight for the drafting of the Instrument. This volume is designed to assist those involved in a process of law reform and those setting standards for soft law in the business rescue context.

This incisive book critically explores the principles, purpose and application of corporate rescue in order to bring new significance to rescue theory. Responding to key legislative developments and recent case law, it examines major insolvency theories and establishes which theoretical principles are prominently applied in practice, and whether these principles have affected the drivers of policy consideration.

This book takes a conceptual, interdisciplinary approach to the issues surrounding corporate rescue and the decision possibilities for companies in decline. The broad perspective enables the reader to understand the wider business context of insolvency law.

. . . a highly readable and informative text and an excellent addition to insolvency scholarship. . . In their entirety, the chapters of Corporate Rescue Law An Anglo-American Perspective represent one of the most incisive and relevant treatments of comparative insolvency regimes to date. . . This book is an absolute boon: it provides the reader with a mass of legal and practical insights into the workings of two ostensibly divergent systems and challenges received wisdom in a fluent and persuasive manner. Not only are legal differences examined through the lens of practice, but also commercial, philosophical and social responses to failure are considered and highlighted as possible drivers of those real distinctions that do exist. Professor McCormack has produced an exceptional work that should be required reading for academics, practitioners and policy makers alike, and is to be warmly congratulated. Sandra Frisby, Banking and Finance Law Review The issues are well chosen. They are easily the most important aspects of any corporate rescue law. The careful analysis of the technical provisions, the incorporation of the extensive scholarship on the two corporate rescue regimes and the reference to practice in the real world all help to make these chapters an indispensable tool for any scholar wishing to gain a better understanding of the similarities and differences of English and American corporate rescue laws. . . This monograph could not have come at a better time. . . The comparative account in this book will help law reformers, judges and scholars to have a better grasp of the issues and appreciate better how the two systems have dealt with them. . . Comparative law has a critical role to play in promoting mutual understanding and respect. It is hoped that this monograph will help in that respect. Wee Meng Seng, Singapore Journal of Legal Studies This book offers an unprecedented and detailed comparative critique of Anglo-American corporate bankruptcy law. It challenges the standard characterisation that US law in the sphere of corporate bankruptcy is pro-debtor and UK law is pro-creditor , and suggests that the traditional thesis is, at best, a potentially misleading over-simplification. Gerard McCormack offers the conclusion that there is functional convergence in practice, while acknowledging that corporate rescue, as distinct from business rescue, still plays a larger role in the US. The focus is on corporate restructurings with in-depth scrutiny of Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code and the UK Enterprise Act, and offers other comparative oversights. Integrating theoretical and practical insights, this book will be of great interest to academics and practitioners, and also to policymakers in the DTI, Insolvency Service and regulatory bodies.

Vanessa Finch provides an interesting look at corporate insolvency laws and processes. She adopts an interdisciplinary approach to place two questions at the centre of her discussion. Are current UK laws and procedures efficient, expert, accountable and fair? Are fundamentally different conceptions of insolvency law needed for it to develop in a way that serves corporate and broader social ends? Topics considered in this wide-ranging book include different ways of financing companies, causes of corporate failure and prospects for designing rescue-friendly processes. Also examined are alternative asset distribution of failed companies, allocations of insolvency risks and effects of insolvency on a company's directors and employees. Finch argues that changes of approach are needed if insolvency law is to develop with coherence and purpose. This book will appeal to academics and students at advanced undergraduate and graduate level, and to legal practitioners throughout the common law world.