New restructuring rules - who will gain and who will lose?

Thanks to the simplified restructuring procedure, debtors get four months to reach an agreement with their creditors. Whether the solutions adopted together with the anti-crisis shield will help companies survive the difficult period was discussed by the guests of the DGP

Under Shield 4.0, simplified restructuring proceedings have been introduced. The provisions came into force on 24 June 2020. But why were they introduced at all as part of the coronavirus special law?

Małgorzata Anisimowicz:
The chosen direction is the right one. It is obvious that the importance of the courts cannot be overestimated, but it is also clear to me that the possibilities of the courts must be managed wisely – strictly organizational, technical ones. Therefore, adopting the solution that the opening simplified restructuring proceedings Doesn't require judicial approval, I like it.
The current economic situation means that entrepreneurs are struggling with trying to answer the question of whether this is the right time to adjust the company's resources to market expectations. However, time was and is one of the most important elements ‒ in order to maintain the company, jobs, satisfaction of creditors.

When the work on the act was in its final stages, the Entrepreneurship Council, which includes most of the large business organizations, strongly protested against the simplified restructuring procedure. It argued in its appeal that the new regulations would excessively strengthen the position of debtors at the expense of creditors. Have you ever wondered why the entrepreneurs changed their minds during the work – first they praised, then they criticized?

Małgorzata Anisimowicz:
The position of the entrepreneurs who protested against the simplified restructuring procedure seems to me to be over the top. First of all, it is worth looking at the legislation and answering the question of what would hit creditors' rights so hard. In the worst-case scenario for the creditor, the debtor will benefit from a four-month period during which no enforcement and no termination of contracts can be carried out against him and he will not seek an arrangement. Let me remind you: four months. Assuming there is no simplified procedure, what can a creditor do in that time? There is no chance that he will enforce the claim in the course of bailiff enforcement. The court? Proceedings take two to three years. So really, even in cases of abuse of the procedure by the debtor, the worst that can happen to the creditor is a loss of four months. So, in my opinion, the profit and loss account is clear: the simplified procedure is needed and the disadvantage of the new rules for creditors is quite illusory.

The article appeared in Dziennik Gazeta Prawna:on 21 July 2020. We invite you to read the full version:" New restructuring rules - who will gain and who will lose?

PMR team

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