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.
Students will gain updated and timely knowledge about global, legal, and policy issues concerning the handling and governance of business and financial institutions in distress. They will learn to critically evaluate and think creatively, in an interdisciplinary fashion, about the role of international organisations in this field and the application of key regional and international instruments, legal norms and doctrines. The course also develops analytical skills, particularly with regard to a range of international and comparative legal materials and the operations of the law in highly complex scenarios involving a range of business and financial institutions structures.
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
By the end of the module, students should be able to:
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)
There will be some interdisciplinary aspects
The perspective is international.
Knowledge of relevant legal rules
ability to contextualise the rules
ability to critique legal rules
Independent study
Oral skills
Type | Required |
---|---|
Seminars | 9 sessions of 2 hours (7%) |
Online learning (scheduled sessions) | 9 sessions of 1 hour (3%) |
Online learning (independent) | 9 sessions of 1 hour (3%) |
Private study | 182 hours (67%) |
Assessment | 54 hours (20%) |
Total | 272 hours |
No private study requirements defined for this module.
Consultation
No further costs have been identified for this module.
You must pass all assessment components to pass the module.
Students can register for this module without taking any assessment.
Weighting | Study time | |
---|---|---|
4000 word essay | 100% | 54 hours |
Students must write a 4000 word essay on one of the given titles. |
Individual feedback provided electronically
Generic feedback provided via Moodle
This module is Optional for:
This module is Core option list A for:
This module is Option list A for:
This module is Option list C for: