This is the second of a series of two briefing notes published by the Restructuring & Insolvency practice of Arendt on recent or ongoing legislative changes in matters of insolvency law at Luxembourg and EU levels. You can read our first briefing note here
Part 1 – Update on the upcoming reform of Luxembourg insolvency law
On 20 May 2015, the European Commission published regulation (EU) 2015/848 on insolvency proceedings (recast) ("Regulation 2015/848") . This regulation repeals regulation (CE) 1346/2000 on insolvency proceedings, as amended, which originally came into force on 31 May 2002 ("Regulation 1346/2000").
The decision of the Court of Appeal (Cour d’Appel) is made upon referral back to the lower court following an order to re-try by the Supreme Court (Cour de Cassation) of February 7th2013, which has already been discussed in the BSP Newsletter of September 2013.
According to the Court of Appeal, instead of entirely putting an end to bankruptcy operations, the decision to close the bankruptcy case only "suspends the bankruptcy process", while restoring individual rights to creditors. The appeal judges further indicated that "the bankruptcy regime stops existing, but the debtor remains under the threat of the re-opening of bankruptcy operations, which virtually survive".
On 20 May 2015, the European Parliament adopted a new version (the "Revised Regulation") of Regulation 1346/2000 on insolvency proceedings (the "Original Regulation").
Adoption and publication of the Regulation (EU) 2015/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 2015 on insolvency proceedings (recast) in the Official Journal of the European Union
En date du 20 mai 2015, le Parlement Européen a adopté une nouvelle mouture (le Règlement Révisé) du Règlement 1346/2000 relatif aux procédures d’insolvabilité (le Règlement Original).
The Luxembourg District Court sitting in commercial matters has declared bankrupt the group parent company ESPIRITO SANTO INTERNATIONAL S.A. (ESI) on 27 October 2014, following the Court's decision of 17 October 2014 that had rejected ESI's application for controlled management.
Formal, court-driven restructuring proceedings are available into Luxembourg law, but for practical reasons, these are rarely used in practice.
