Barely a year after the new Bankruptcy Code came into force, experts are evaluating the new features that have emerged in the current bankruptcy system in Spain, for example, restructuring plans aimed at preventing bankruptcy. stigma associated with competition processed in commercial courts. The Professional Association of Insolvency Administrators and Professionals in Restructuring and Bankruptcy (ASPAC), as well as specialized law firms, came to the conclusion that statistics allow us to talk about a significant decrease in the number of corporate insolvency proceedings in favor of an exponential increase in those declared for insolvency proceedings. natural persons.
Félix Salgado, partner of PradaGayoso, state these figures. A total of 4,895 competitions were announced in the first quarter of this year, and this number increased to 5,934 in the second quarter of 2023. 29 percent are registered in Catalonia (1,714), compared to 824 in Madrid. In any case, most of the total in this second quarter Natural persons (4,679) compared to 1,215 companies. The expert highlights relevant data, such as data showing that among this last figure there are no companies with a business volume of more than 10 million euros.
The result is that companies They do not go to the courts to solve their problems.. Salgado explains that this is largely done by small companies and especially individuals looking to take advantage of second chances. According to ASPAC president Diego Comendador, these procedures that allow people in bankruptcy to cancel their debts carry a certain risk that must be taken into account.
“Second chance There can be no legal mechanism to encourage irresponsible debt” states. In the opinion of this association, this type of competition should be regulated differently in order to prevent situations of misuse and abuse of the law.
In his assessment of the law’s first year in force, Comendador concludes that the reform has had a significant impact. Major impact on the economic and legal system Due to the huge increase in the number of declared bankruptcies, it has almost doubled compared to the same period in the previous year. However, the Association warns that when the typology of this increase in bankruptcies is examined in detail, it should be underlined that it is basically due to the declaration of bankruptcy of real persons.
“The number of corporate bankruptcy proceedings has decreased, but the increase in the number of people applying for bankruptcy is increasing exponentially. What is even more worrying is that the majority of these bankruptcy proceedings have been filed under the KCK. New regulation for non-mass competitions“, To add.
This type of bankruptcy occurs when a company or individual becomes bankrupt, is declared bankrupt, and does not have enough assets satisfaction of all outstanding debts. Such ones have increased by more than a thousand percent in recent months, according to an ASPAC representative, based on official data from the College of Registrars, while Salgado warned they could lead to fraud.
“According to the law, the judge must notify the creditors of this, and if no one says anything, the transaction is archived. On the other hand, if the creditors want to make a claim, The bankruptcy administrator must pay the creditor “It will come out of your pocket,” the lawyer explains, to illustrate why some companies with assets may choose to benefit from bankruptcy disposition without assets.
In any case, cases continue to reach the courts. On September 4, the final decision on a case of great economic importance became known when the Commercial Court No. 2 of Barcelona ruled in favor of the creditors of the steel company Celsa and against the Rubiralta family. steel giant In this particular case, the magistrate took into account restructuring plan tested and legalized It is offered by the Infersores funds, which currently have over 2 billion euros in debt. The approval of the agreement affects a company with 10,000 employees and an annual turnover of 6,000 million Euros in our country.
Restructuring plans
Salgado also points out this point: Increase in consultancy activities of offices It specializes in restructuring plans, but there are no statistics on this option because approval of these plans is not required by law.
plan one pretrial instrument It is a system adopted among individuals that allows taking precautions against financial difficulties. According to Salgado, this situation forces the authorities to do more than what a competition before a judge requires.
“The important thing is to take precautions and prevent incidents.” This expert, whose office collaborated in the successful restructuring of the company’s debt, says: single house, A Madrid company dedicated to the promotion and construction of real estate, which managed to refinance its debt to its creditors through one of the first restructuring plans carried out after the reform of the legal framework.
In this case, the company can achieve its goal postpone your payment credit for at least five years2-year interest-free maturity opportunity. The plan does not envisage the lawful removal and transfer of creditors who did not vote in favor in a case in which affected loans reached 156 million euros. The restructuring plan came into force after approval Commercial Court No. 5 of Madrid