fwp hosted a presentation at the offices of fwp in Vienna.

 “New developments in pre-insolvency restructuring in Austrian and EU law” was the topic of the presentation given by Dr. Franz Mohr (head of the Department for Enforcement and Insolvency Law at Graz University, deputy head of the Civil Law Section at the Federal Ministry of Justice, and president of the Insolvency Law Reform Commission) and professor Dr. Christoph G. Paulus, LL.M. (Humboldt University, Berlin).

“The main reason for these reforms, and the one nobody talks about, is the capital market and the implications different insolvency laws have for investors. Since a full harmonisation of insolvency laws is too difficult, the decision has been taken to build a kind of fence around existing national insolvency laws in Europe”, says Dr. Paulus. He adds: “The proposal for a directive rings in a paradigm shift. However, the proposal is still blurry when it comes to definitions. “Likelihood of insolvency”, for instance, is a very broad term, which – at least theoretically – could also apply to the company foundation phase where the likelihood of insolvency is especially high.”

Dr. Mohr has the following to say on this matter: “The views on the system of insolvency administration, in particular with respect to selecting insolvency administrators, are rather flexible. For instance, the Commission is willing to recognise the system practiced in Slovakia, where insolvency administrators are selected solely on a random basis.”

The ensuing discussion between the two presenters along with Dr. Markus Fellner (Fellner Wratzfeld & Partner), Dr. Ulla Reisch (Urbanek Lind Schmied Reisch) and Mag. Albert Hannak (Deloitte Financial Advisory GmbH) provided an opportunity to further explore the topic and answer any remaining questions.