Blog Archive

2025-08-doc4 Hague Judgments Convention 2019 and preventive restructuring frameworks

20 August 202520 August 2025
by Bob Wessels

Since 1 July 2025 the Hague Judgments Convention 2019 applies to the UK and the EU. Any consequences for insolvency proceedings and preventive restructuring plans? The Hague Judgments Convention 2019 facilitates the recognition and enforcement of civil and commercial judgments, including consumer and individual employment contracts. Officially titled as The… Read More »2025-08-doc4 Hague Judgments Convention 2019 and preventive restructuring frameworks

2025-08-doc3 Municipalities in Financial Distress

15 August 2025
by Bob Wessels

The phenomenon of a “city” has always fascinated me. For instance, the historical roots of urban development, the acquisition by a city of its own “city rights” by the incumbent ruler, many centuries ago (at least in the Netherlands). See my recent book, written (in English) with historian Maurits den… Read More »2025-08-doc3 Municipalities in Financial Distress

2025-08-doc2 Two UNCITRAL Cross-border insolvency instruments explained

8 August 20258 August 2025
by Bob Wessels

The UNCITRAL Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency is close to thirty years old. After its slow start following its inception in 1997, the MLCBI (as it is now referred to) was considered by many countries, especially following its adoption by the big players, USA in 2005 and UK in 2006.… Read More »2025-08-doc2 Two UNCITRAL Cross-border insolvency instruments explained

2025-08-doc1 Is the DIP here to stay?

2 August 2025
by Bob Wessels

It is less than twenty-five years ago that in American legal literature the insolvency systems of some Western European countries were compared to a criminal law system. Everywhere the clock struck: liquidation of the business’s assets, piece-meal, everything to the creditors, with the result that the company had disappeared. In… Read More »2025-08-doc1 Is the DIP here to stay?

2025-07-doc2 Seven suggestions to strengthen the EU Insolvency Regulation

19 July 2025
by Bob Wessels

Early June, in my regular column in Global Restructuring Review (GRR), I suggested seven changes that could make the EU Insolvency Regulation more equitable, efficient, and suited to the evolving needs of the global economy. Here’s the column. The original EU Insolvency Regulation of 2000 was replaced in 2015 by… Read More »2025-07-doc2 Seven suggestions to strengthen the EU Insolvency Regulation

2025-07-doc1 COMI queries continued

18 July 2025
by Bob Wessels

In my last column in Global Restructuring Review (GRR) I submitted that the concept of the centre of main interests (COMI) remains ambiguous and is still vague. An example could be the following case. In August 2020, a German public inner-city locality of Berlin, Finanzamt Wilmersdorf, filed insolvency proceedings against… Read More »2025-07-doc1 COMI queries continued

2025-06-doc1 EU’s working agenda for restructuring and insolvency revealed

6 June 2025
by Bob Wessels

In my January column, I wondered what the European Commission’s agenda for restructuring and insolvency law would be for the next four years. In December 2024, the new Commission, headed by President Ursula von der Leyen, had just come into power; what are the new Commission’s insolvency plans? Last week,… Read More »2025-06-doc1 EU’s working agenda for restructuring and insolvency revealed

2025-05-doc2 Sdu Commentaar Insolventierecht 2025

20 May 2025
by Bob Wessels

Sdu Commentaar Insolventierecht, 2025, wordt door uitgever SDU aangeprezen als een jaarlijks geactualiseerd boek in combinatie met online beschikbaarheid van haar teksten en online doorverwijzingen naar in house Sdu bronnen en relevante websites. Op deze wijze wordt de Faillissementswet en aanverwante regelingen, waaronder de Europese Insolventieverordening, becommentarieerd. Die aanverwante regelingen… Read More »2025-05-doc2 Sdu Commentaar Insolventierecht 2025

2025-05-doc1 Is the EU-Mercosur partnership agreement missing a link?

1 May 2025
by Bob Wessels

In December 2024, the EU and Mercosur finalised negotiations for a groundbreaking EU-Mercosur partnership agreement. Mercosur stands for ‘El Mercado Común del Sur’ (Common Market of the Southern Cone or The Southern Common Market) and was established in 1991. Its members are Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. The central goal… Read More »2025-05-doc1 Is the EU-Mercosur partnership agreement missing a link?

2025-04-doc2 Cryptocurrencies ‘property right?, and the Dutch Tax man

29 April 2025
by Bob Wessels

Can cryptocurrencies be taxed? My eye fell on a case of 25 April this year from the Netherlands Supreme Court (Tax Chambers) A taxpayer (X) believes that cryptocurrencies (in this case bitcoins and altcoins) are not ‘property rights’ (‘vermogensrechten’) and are therefore not to be taxed as income (in the… Read More »2025-04-doc2 Cryptocurrencies ‘property right?, and the Dutch Tax man