Prepared by Cristian Sgaramella, Maria Progida and Giorgio Olivari
Due to the first statements made by Prof. Ilaria Pagni, chairman of the Committee charged by the Minister of Justice, Marta Cartabia, to define a new regulation for crisis matter, there is a possible further postponement of the entry into force of the Corporate Crisis and Insolvency Code (“CCII”) which is now scheduled on September 1, 2021.
At the end of the relevant analysis, the Committee has suggested a postponement to the first half of year 2022 of the entry into force of the CCII, to allow more time to acknowledge the guidelines provided for by the EU Directive 2019/1023 and avoid a step-by-step introduction of the new discipline, allowing the incorporation in the final text of the provisions aimed at improving the effectiveness of restructuring and insolvency proceedings, to be combined with the rules already included in the current content of the CCII.
The proposed postponement derives from the status of a large part of Italian companies that have been heavily affected by the health emergency Covid-19, which would also have to deal with the entry into force of several amendments to the Bankruptcy Law, that at this stage, according to the position of the Committee, seems to be inappropriate.
Also with reference to the early warning procedures, maybe the most innovative part of the new regulation, the Committee has deemed it appropriate to rearrange the provisions related to the internal warning mechanism – also taking into account the postponement already made with regard to the external warnings, due to Decreto Sostegni – keeping and rewriting the duties to be covered by the supervisory body; to this purpose, therefore, it has been proposed the postponement of Articles 12 and following of the CCII to December 31, 2023.
The Committee has also envisaged the possibility of introducing a measure that meets both the needs of the current emergency and the guidelines of the EU Directive, in order to allow companies in distress (regardless of their nature and size) to open negotiations with creditors, supported by a competent, independent and qualified expert (in addition to the trusted professional of the debtor), able to aim negotiations for the arrangement of the crisis.
Essentially, it would be a sort of a better chance for negotiations (applicable on a voluntary basis in favour of all kind of companies, including groups of companies and farms) to be performed in advance with respect to any crisis procedure, where the central role would be played by the expert – to be identified from among accountants, lawyers, labor consultants and managers who are able to prove involvement in successful restructuring transactions – supporting, where possible, through negotiations, an agreement with creditors.
On this point, it is now awaited to know what the Government’s decisions and actions will be, notwithstanding that the provisions of the CCII that have already come into force as of today will be maintained.
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