Global Restructuring Review

In April, the EU published Directive (EU) 2026/799 concerning the harmonisation of certain aspects of insolvency law (CAD 2026/799). Its goal is to lay down common rules in all member states on: (a) avoidance actions; (b) tracing of assets belonging to insolvency estates; (c) pre-pack proceedings; (d) duty of directors to submit a request for the opening of insolvency proceedings;… Read More »2026-10-doc4 EU harmonisation of certain aspects of insolvency law faces cross-border test

A few days ago, I published on my blog an article concerning Annex A of the European Insolvency Regulation (EIR 2025), see https://bobwessels.nl/blog/2026-09-doc3-insolvency-regulations-annex-a-hits-a-stumbling-block-again/. It was a slightly adapted version, which had been published in the Europe column I am writing regularly in Global Restructuring Review (GRR). See www.globalrestructuringreview.com. I received a response from Mark Mouthaan, an experienced restructuring attorney from… Read More »2026-09-doc4 Insolvency Regulation’s Annex A, stumbling over a stumbling block

In a Dutch insolvency case, an insolvency practitioner (IP), “curator” X, asked the District Court of The Hague to determine an advance on his fee. He also requested the amount of the bankruptcy costs. The invoice covered the period from 1 January 2023 up to and including 24 February 2025, when X was replaced by another IP. The court heard… Read More »2026-08-doc1 Does the debtor have a say in determining the fee for an IP?

Europe Column: The “Certain Aspects” harmonisation directive – a motley collection of topics – Global Restructuring Review

In April and May of this year I published two blogs on the Mercon Protocol, see ‘The US-approved Mercon protocol and the Dutch courts / Part One’ at https://bobwessels.nl/blog/2024-04-doc3-the-us-approved -mercon-protocol-and-the-dutch-courts-part-one/, followed by a second blog, see https://bobwessels.nl/blog/2024-05-doc3-the-us-approved-mercon-new -protocol-and-the-dutch-court-part-two/. The full case can be taken form these two blogs. At the moment of writing the last, Part II blog, I had… Read More »2024-07-doc4 US approved New Protocol in Mercon. Where is it? Part III

Two weeks ago I published ‘The US-approved Mercon protocol and the Dutch courts / Part One’, see https://bobwessels.nl/blog/2024-04-doc3-the-us-approved-mercon-protocol-and-the-dutch-courts-part-one/. It was the text of my column of some 4 or 5 weeks earlier in Global Restructuring Review (GRR), the world’s only daily news and analysis service on cross-border restructuring and insolvency law. See https://globalrestructuringreview.com/. As a refresher, Mercon Coffee Corporation and… Read More »2024-05-doc3 The US-approved Mercon ‘New Protocol and the Dutch Court / Part Two

Intro. A recent Dutch court case provides a Spanish bank (with a secured claim) an expensive lesson when dealing with the bankrupt Dutch owners of a Spanish holiday home. The bank collaborated in the sale and transfer of title of the holiday home in Spain owned by the two Dutch nationals, without permission from their IP appointed in the insolvency… Read More »2023-06-doc3 Spanish banks beware of insolvent Dutch nationals with holiday homes!

On 6 April 2023, Steinhoff International Holdings NV (SIHNV) announced that the Amsterdam District Court had appointed both Frédéric Verhoeven, a partner at Houthoff, and Willem Meijer, founder of Mediation Kamer Amsterdam, as observers (“observator”) in connection with its draft restructuring plan. Steinhoff’s plan is covered by the Dutch Wet homologatie onderhands akkoord or Act on the confirmation of a… Read More »2023-05-doc1 Observing the WHOA observer