Insolvency and Restructuring

If a bankruptcy situation arises, the trustee will have to study its causes. Such an investigation will focus on the actions performed by the board of directors, other actual decision-makers, lenders and supervisors in the period preceding the bankruptcy. Many businesses ending up bankrupt turn out to have been in a delicate financial situation for a number of years already, their financial position having been weakened year after year on account of a failure to take timely action. Somewhere in that period there comes a moment when assuming new obligations or continuing the business without performing a restructuring is no longer justified. If nevertheless new obligations are entered into or if no timely restructuring measures are taken, there is a growing risk of liability claims. If swift action is taken, it is in many cases still possible to avoid bankruptcy by way of an extrajudicial compulsory composition as provided for by the WHOA. We operate both as a sounding board and as a reference point. We are happy to share our views with you about the course to be taken, while making sure that the management of the undertaking continues to act in compliance with the rules – including in the eyes of a trustee or a court of law.

• Drafting restructuring plans and analysing the risks involved;
• Advising and assisting directors, shareholders, supervisory directors, lenders, creditors and other parties involved in undertakings that are going through difficult times;
• Preparing and supervising restart scenarios (takeover/assets transactions);
• Supervising the offering of an out-of-court settlement, court-approved private compositions or a settlement involving a suspension of payments or bankruptcy;
• Providing advice on financing schemes, refinancing schemes and financing conditions, security (rights of pledge and mortgage, retentions of title, guarantees, etc.) and preparing the relevant papers;
• The realisation, or actual realisation, of collateral, or, in the interest of the undertaking, preventing collateral from being realised;
• The liquidation and winding-up of legal persons;
• Providing advice and conducting legal proceedings in matters involving directors’ liability, financing issues, the prejudicing of creditors (fraud);
• Providing advice and conducting legal proceedings in matters involving bankruptcies and suspensions of payments;
• Providing advice on the position of the creditor during the WHOA procedure;
• Filing claims in matters involving bankruptcies or suspensions of payments and assisting creditors in claim validation proceedings in the event of claims being challenged by the trustee.