Recent crises among global enterprises like Parmalat, Yukos, and Enron, have flagged the need for laws which can deal with the implications of cross-border insolvency. An upcoming International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) conference on cross-border insolvency and conflict of jurisdictions, with experts from Europe and the United States, centres on this timely and important issue for companies, lawyers, judges, investors and legislators.
"While 20 years ago all commerce was considered local, today a proliferation of multinational corporate groups with hundreds of highly specialized subsidiaries all over the world is driving the need for legal harmonization," said Judge Burton R. Lifland, United States Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York and Co-chair of the ICC conference. "Investors want predictability and companies need clarity to comply with legal demands."
"International insolvency is an essential management consideration for any company with assets in another country. Banks will look where collateral is situated to know if, in the case of bankruptcy, they would be able to recover assets as they can in their home country," said Georges Affaki, Head of Legal, BNP Paribas and Vice Chair of ICC's Banking Commission.
"There is increasing recognition among legislators that jurisdictions may have to cooperate with one another as a company's value is deemed greater as a whole than the sum of its parts," Judge Lifland added.
The conference, hosted by the ICC Institute of World Business Law, will look at the impact of current developments in both US and European courts and will highlight common threads which are emerging to deal with these issues. More specifically, it will address questions such as:
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What criteria would need to be satisfied for a foreign business to benefit from the protection of American bankruptcy law?
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Will the insolvency of groups of companies remain outside of the scope of EU regulation or will it be consumed by the appetite of the courts?
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What are the implications of the European Court of Justice's 2 May 2006 ruling on the Eurofood case? Will it rein in divergent national court readings in European cases?
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Will the tendency of the courts lean towards forum shopping, benefiting those wishing to choose the most favourable jurisdiction for their business liquidation?
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Is international insolvency an arbitral dispute? Can a company avoid private justice by declaring bankruptcy?
"With its international base of active members working in the area of business law, ICC is the perfect organization to host the conference," said Mr Affaki, who is co-chairing the conference and an ICC Institute of World Business Law council member. "We hope it will provide an occasion for thoughts on this issue to mature and help people focus on what's at stake."
The conference will be held at ICC headquarters in Paris on 12 June 2006. Working languages will be both English and French.
For more information on the event, please visit:
www.iccwbo.org/events
or contact:
Andrea Montegut
Tel: +33 1 49 53 29 71
Email:
amu@iccwbo.org
Media queries, including requests for interviews, should be addressed to:
Elizabeth Thomas-Raynaud
Tel: +33 1 49 53 28 22
Email:
etd@iccwbo.org