In the Netherlands, in a letter dated April 15, 2024 to the House of Representatives, Minister of Legal Protection Mr Weerwind (in outgoing /’demissionair’) addresses ‘Developments in insolvency law’. The ‘recalibration’ program (see https://bobwessels.nl/blog/2019-07-doc1-insolvency-legislative-developments-in-the-netherlands/) has ended, but for Dutch national insolvency several other themes need to be further investigated. The minister indicates that the ‘coming period’ (my impression from the letter is: until September 2024) will be used to conduct research and map out policy options, with a view to future decision-making.
The 12-page letter also devotes a few paragraphs to ‘International insolvencies’. Work continues, the minister writes, on the preparation of a bill in the field of international bankruptcies. He indicates that, in response to questions from the House of Representatives (mind you, from almost seven years ago!), work is being done on a regulation regarding the settlement of international insolvencies. The minister rightly indicates that it is currently up to a court to assess whether a ‘bankruptcy’ (rather limited, it also should relate to restructurings) of a company declared outside the EU has consequences for assets of that company located in the Netherlands.
Mr Weerwind believes – rightly – that cross-border insolvency resolution can be improved with a clear and easily applicable regulation for the settlement of such international bankruptcies: ‘Although there are not very many of these types of bankruptcies, the nature and scale of such bankruptcies is usually large.’ The research direction is also indicated: ‘It is therefore worthwhile to work on improvements in this area. The UNCITRAL model law can be an important source of inspiration. I expect that international bankruptcies can therefore be settled faster and better by the Dutch courts. It is a complex subject and the preparation is still in an early phase, so no period can yet be stated when a bill will go into consultation.’
Quite a number of words to apparently indicate that the legislative state of affairs is not an inch further than it was almost 5 years ago, see
https://bobwessels.nl/blog/2019-08-doc4-netherlands-puts-international-insolvencies-back-on-legislative-agenda/. Or does the snail move?