ELI Conference on Business Rescue in Insolvency Law
On 19 and 20 March, the reporters of the ELI Project on Rescue of Business in Insolvency Law, Prof. Bob Wessels, Prof. Stephan Madaus and As. Prof. Kristin van Zwieten, will chair a conference to present the preliminary results of the project. The event will take place on the top floor (Dachgeschoss) of the Faculty of Law of the University of Vienna and will gather National Correspondents from eleven different European jurisdictions.
Correspondents will present their respective national inventory reports and normative reports, the main results of which will serve as the basis for further discussion. Members of the Advisory Committee (AC) and of the ELI Members Consultative Committee (MCC) will also attend the conference, providing a great opportunity to give feedback on the progress of the project at this early stage and suggestions on further steps in the coming months. Dr. Mihaela Carpus Carcea will also attend the meeting representing the European Commission, an observer to the project.
The Dean of the Faculty of Law of the University of Vienna, Prof. Paul Oberhammer, who is also a member of the AC for the project, will welcome the participants on Thursday, 19 March, together with the Chair of the Project, Prof. Bob Wessels. National Correspondents will then make brief presentations on the lessons that can be learnt from business rescue law and practice in their respective jurisdictions. On Friday, 20 March, some specific issues for a legal enabling framework for business rescue in Europe will be discussed more closely in workshops.
The Project on Rescue of Business in Insolvency Law aims at designing (elements of) an appropriate legal enabling framework, which includes certain statutory procedures that encourage parties to negotiate solutions in a situation of business distress. National Correspondents are experts from a selected group of 14 different European countries, each of which represents a different approach to insolvency law. Some topics that have been covered in those reports include: governance and supervision of in-court and out-of-court rescue, special protection for financing a rescue, treatment of executory contracts, ranking of creditors, avoidance powers, restructuring plans, special arrangements for SMEs, and the position of liquidators and directors. In addition to these national reports, an inventory report on international recommendations from standard-setting organisations, such as the World Bank and UNCITRAL, will be drafted. In the later stages of the project, the Project Team will use these results to formulate their recommendations for reform. This process will be assisted by input from a specialist AC, staffed by experts in relevant areas of law and legal practice across Europe. More information about the project is contained in the project’s brochure and on the ELI website. The agenda of the event will be available soon.