030293 KU International Insolvency - Multi-National Mega-Case Bankrupty (2011S)

Required Texts:

• UNCITRAL Legislative Guide on Insolvency Law
• Austrian Insolvency Code
• US Bankruptcy Code
• Insolvency & Restructuring 2011 (Law Business Research 2011; contributing editor: B. Leonard;)
• European Insolvency Regulation (Council Regulation [EC] No 1346/2000)
• UNCITRAL Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency
• UNCITRAL Practice Guide on Cross-Border Insolvency Cooperation
• Cases as announced

All required texts will be distributed in hard copy class and/or posted on the homepage of the Institut für Zivilverfahrensrecht (http://zvr.univie.ac.at/). All UNCITRAL texts are also available at http://www.uncitral.org/.

I. Comparative Insolvency Law (Domestic)

At the beginning of the course we will compare the laws of selected countries on domestic insolvency, both civil law and common law jurisdictions. The comparison will focus upon certain important features that should be a part of any modern insolvency statute, such as whether the insolvency regime recognizes rehabilitation as well as liquidation and, if so, how the choice is made as to which procedure may be followed, eligibility for relief, whether the procedure is judicial or administrative, automatic stay, treatment of secured creditors, whether the debtor may remain in possession or whether a trustee or other official takes the place of management, and the like.

Materials used:
• UNCITRAL Legislative Guide on Insolvency Law
• Insolvency & Restructuring 2011
• Austrian Insolvency Code
• US Bankruptcy Code

II. Issues, Approaches, Legal Instruments and Recent Developments in International Insolvency Law

We will analyze the issues relevant when an insolvency has effects in more than one country, in particular, when the debtor has assets, liabilities and/or business relations in more than one jurisdiction, and more specifically, when the debtor is a multi-national corporation or part of a multi-national corporate group. We will discuss the approaches that have been taken to address these issues, the most important legal instruments in this field, the use of insolvency protocols, and the ongoing work of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) in the area of international insolvency law.

Materials used:
• European Insolvency Regulation (Council Regulation [EC] No 1346/2000)
• UNCITRAL Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency and its enactment into national law by selected countries
• UNCITRAL Practice Guide on Cross-Border Insolvency Cooperation

III. International Insolvency Cases

Throughout the rest of the class we will discuss important cases in the field of international insolvency. We will read and analyze judgments from the European Court of Justice (ECJ) as well from non-EU courts. Among the decisions to be discussed are cases like Maxwell, Eurofood (the Parmalat case), Lehman Brothers, Stanford International Bank etc.

Materials used:
Cases (judgments and additional reading) will be distributed in class and/or posted on the homepage of the Institut für Zivilverfahrensrecht (http://zvr.univie.ac.at/).