November 21, 2023
Debt and Asset Recovery Legal Secretary
We are looking for an experienced Legal Secretary to join our busy and friendly Debt and Asset Recovery Team, based in Dublin 2. Responsibilities will include but are not limited...
On the 29th July 2022, the European Union (Preventive Restructuring) Regulations 2022 (the ‘Regulations’) were signed into law by the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment.
The amendments to the Companies Act 2014 and therefore to the examinership process apply with immediate effect to all examinerships in respect of which a petition had not been presented to the Court before 29 July 2022.
The Regulations provide for the transposition of the mandatory articles of Directive (EU) 2019/1023 (the ‘Directive’) on preventive restructuring frameworks. The principal objective of the Directive is to harmonise restructuring procedures across EU Member States. The length and cost of insolvency and restructuring proceedings will be reduced as a result.
In the Irish context, the Regulations modify the examinership process as set out in the Companies Act 2014. The key changes to the law on examinership in Ireland, as introduced by the Regulations, include:
The Regulations import significant changes to the examinership process. The most noteworthy change is the amendment to voting rights. While a single class approval is still required for a court to confirm a scheme proposed by an examiner, the Regulations introduce a requirement that any such class must be in line to receive some payment in the event of liquidation. As a result, impaired creditors are not counted for proposal voting. This marks a definitive departure from how examinership previously operated in Ireland.
The Government is adopting a two-phased approach to reviewing Ireland’s examinership process. The passing of the Regulations constitutes Phase 1 of its review, however the changes introduced to date have the potential to have a material impact on certain examinerships in Ireland.
About the Author: Dermot McClean is a Solicitor specialising in insolvency and commercial litigation.
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