Clifford Chance
Restructuring the Slovak restructuring proceedings – one step forward or two steps back?
3 July 2015
On 29 April 2015 a substantial amendment to Slovak insolvency law (the "Amendment")became effective. The scope of the Amendment is very broad and goes beyond the restructuring laws, amending other legal acts too (e.g. Act No. 513/1991 Coll., the Commercial Code, as amended). In this client brief we will address the amendments to Act No. 7/2005 Coll., on Bankruptcy and Restructuration, as amended (the "Bankruptcy Act"), in particular the changes to the restructuring process. The Amendment derogates from a few basic principles of the current insolvency law, such as the principle of a "clean slate" for the debtor after the conclusion of the restructuring process. Another novelty is a creditor's quasi right to share in the profit of the debtor. In the following text we will focus on the most important issues introduced by the Amendment, in particular with respect to restructuring proceedings, which may preclude insolvent debtors from opting for restructuring proceedings in the future. In any case, unfortunately it seems that the Amendment opens up several uncertainties and leaves space for various interpretations instead of resolving particular issues.
