Introductory description

In this course we will discuss key issues and challenges concerning the governance of business and financial distress, taking a comparative and international perspective. We will consider in this regard the spectrum of business and financial institutions' sizes, from the small, medium sized to the large multinationals. We will discuss the objectives and key policies in the design of effective insolvency, restructuring, and resolution regimes, and debate whether harmonisation or standardisation is desirable and feasible. We will also discuss the problem of cross-border corporate and bank default, taking various perspectives, including theoretical, interdisciplinary, and practical. We will review and analyse the development and application of key international frameworks for cross-border insolvency, including those advanced by international organisations and standard setters such as the World Bank, UNCITRAL (United Nations Commission on International Trade Law), UNIDROIT (International Institute for the Unification of Private Law) and the FSB (Financial Stability Board).

Topics covered include: business sizes and stakeholders; objectives of restructuring and insolvency regimes, harmonisation, and international standard-setting; cross-border insolvency theories and challenges; cross-border insolvency in Europe; global governance of cross-border insolvency; recognition and enforcement of insolvency related judgments; multinational enterprise groups restructuring and insolvency; asset tracing and recovery in international insolvency; cross-border bank resolution.

Module web page

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

Course outline:

Introduction to business sizes and stakeholders, insolvency, resolution, and international aspects

Objectives of restructuring and insolvency regimes, harmonisation, and international standard-setting

Cross-border insolvency theories and challenges

Cross-border insolvency in Europe

Global governance of cross-border insolvency

Recognition and enforcement of insolvency related judgments

Multinational enterprise groups reconstructing and insolvency

Asset tracing and recovery in international insolvency

Cross-border bank resolution

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• demonstrate current knowledge about global, legal, and policy issues concerning the handling and governance of business and financial institutions in distress
• critically evaluate and think creatively, in an interdisciplinary fashion, about the role of international organisations in this field
• critically evaluate the application of key regional and international instruments, legal norms and doctrines

Indicative reading list

Kristin van Zwieten, Goode on Principles of Corporate Insolvency Law (Sweet & Maxwell, 2019);
Ian F Fletcher, Insolvency in Private International Law (Oxford University Press Oxford, 2005);
Irit Mevorach, Insolvency within Multinational Enterprise Groups (Oxford University Press, 2009);
Irit Mevorach, The Future of Cross-Border Insolvency: Overcoming Biases and Closing Gaps (Oxford University Press Oxford, 2018);
Ronald Davis, Stephan Madaus, Alberto Mazzoni, Irit Mevorach, Riz Mokal, Madam Justice Barbara Romaine, Janis Sarra, and Ignacio Tirado, Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprise Insolvency, a Modular Approach (Oxford University Press, 2018);
Rosa Lastra et al, Cross- Border Bank Insolvency (OUP 2011)

Interdisciplinary

There will be some interdisciplinary aspects

International

The perspective is international.

Subject specific skills

Knowledge of relevant legal rules
ability to contextualise the rules
ability to critique legal rules

Transferable skills

Independent study
Oral skills