WIREDGOV

The European Commission published its proposals to reform the existing EU insolvency Regulation in December 2012. Business Minister Jo Swinson has today announced that the UK Government has exercised its right under the EU Treaty to opt-in to the Regulation, and will participate fully in negotiations and implementation of the Regulation in its final form.

In a written ministerial statement laid in Parliament today, Jo Swinson said that the Government considers that it is in the UK’s interest to opt into the proposal, as it will be of general benefit to businesses and creditors of insolvency proceedings in the UK and the EU.

“I believe the proposed amendments to the Insolvency Regulation will benefit UK businesses affected by insolvency in the EU. The proposals support business rescue by expanding the scope of the Regulation to restructuring and pre-insolvency proceedings. Bankruptcy tourism will be tackled through new rules on determining jurisdiction and increased transparency for creditors. In addition, the proposals include new rules on publication of insolvency information via free online registers across the EU, in line with our Digital by Default strategy.”

You can view a full copy of the Minister’s written statement here (PDF, 5 Kb) .

The responses received to the Call for Evidence, conducted by the Insolvency Service in February 2013, are published yesterday and can be found here (PDF, 2.5 Mb) .