Companies In Difficulties Research Articles

The French approach to entrepreneurial failure: A profound paradigm shift

AbstractFrom the long‐standing disapproval attached to the "bankruptcy" of the entrepreneur, through the contested recognition of the right not to pay his debts, the French law of insolvency has evolved to gradually take into account the fate of the man in entrepreneurial failure. Thus, the objective of the rebound of the entrepreneur is part of the reforms of the law of companies in difficulty for several years: introduction of professional recovery leading to the cancellation of debts, acceleration of the judicial liquidation procedure, limitation of the scope of the guarantees offered to creditors and reduction of the weight of sanctions. Beyond the measures, the evolution of the law of companies in difficulty reflects a real mutation in the French perception of entrepreneurial failure. A paradigm shift is taking place where the culture of failure gradually gives way to a culture of rebound, so that the entrepreneur can be entitled to a "second chance". The article focuses on the legal mechanisms of the rebound of the individual entrepreneur after a judicial liquidation under French law. The objective is to demonstrate that a paradigm shift is taking place where the culture of failure is gradually giving way to a culture of rebound. If the change has appeared for 30 years, it appears more blatantly for 3 years, whether in European or French law. However, many economic stigmas persist, such as indicators in the banking file of companies or data on judicial liquidation that remain publicly available. In order to promote the rebound of the entrepreneur, we propose in particular the establishment of a right to be forgotten.

Sistema de Pré-Insolvência Empresarial – mediação e conciliação antecedentes

This paper addresses, from a theoretical and dogmatic perspective, the new legal doctrine applicable to previous mediation and conciliation in the reorganization of companies in difficulty. The central argument is that mediation (and all other non-adversarial methods of conflicts) can contribute significantly to making recovery plans more transparent. Therefore it allows for realistic and sustainable reorganizations plans, adapts to the interests of creditors and the company, and increases the commitment of all stakeholders to the company's recovery. Keywords: mediation; conciliation; alternative dispute resolution. company reorganization; Act nº 14.112/2020.

Robotización/automatización y despido objetivo por causas técnicas (Art. 52 c ET)

Una notable repercusión mediática ha tenido la sentencia de un Juzgado de loSocial de las Palmas que, asumiendo como premisa que la robotización comportaráuna fuerte destrucción del empleo, declaró improcedente un despido -ex art.52 c) ET- que había sido acometido por la empresa invocando la implantaciónde un nuevo software que permite automatizar las funciones de la trabajadoradespedida. La sentencia se decanta por una interpretación claramente restrictiva,que circunscribe la procedencia de estos despidos a las empresas que atraviesendificultades. En el presente trabajo, se reseña, en primer lugar, críticamente dichasentencia, subrayando que la lectura realizada no se ajusta a la letra y espíritu dela norma vigente; y, en segundo lugar, se abordan diversas cuestiones en tornoa lo que, a juicio del autor, constituye el esquema hermenéutico apropiado enpunto al control judicial de estos despidos por “causas técnicas”.

Observations on the rescue mechanisms of companies in difficulty (Comparative Study: Lebanese and French laws)

Observations on the rescue mechanisms of companies in difficulty (Comparative Study: Lebanese and French laws)

Restrukturiranje društava u poteškoćama i tržište kapitala

Predmet rada je istražiti na koji način tržište kapitala može biti platforma za restrukturiranje društava u poteškoćama te koji su financijski posrednici tipično uključeni u te postupke. Nakon toga analizirat će se sukobi interesa koji se mogu pojaviti u tom procesu te izložiti kako ih se može prevenirati, odnosno kako njima upravljati. Rad je usmjeren isključivo na društva u poteškoćama dionice kojih su (ili drugi financijski instrumenti) uvršteni na uređeno tržište Zagrebačke burze d.d. te na alternativne investicijske fondove, odnosno private equity i hedge fondove kao dominantne predstavnike segmenta tržišta kapitala koji ulažu u društva u poteškoćama. Nakon prikaza osobitosti, odnosno pravnih i drugih čimbenika koji utječu na restruktuiranje trgovačkih društava u poteškoćama putem tržišta kapitala, u radu se uspoređuju alternativni investicijski fondovi koji su specijalizirani za ulaganja u društva u poteškoćama, s prikazom njihovih sličnosti, razlika i posebnosti kao i fondova za gospodarsku suradnju koji su osobitost upravo hrvatskoga tržišta kapitala. Zatim se pojašnjava pojam sukoba interesa na tržištu kapitala odnosno razlučuje ga se od suprotstavljenih interesa, da bi se nakon toga iscrpno prikazalo kako se sukobi interesa manifestiraju tijekom pojedinih etapa ulaganja u odnosu na društvo u poteškoćama, odnosno kako se navedenim sukobima interesa može upravljati. Također se ističe uloga Hrvatske agencije za nadzor financijskih usluga, kao nadzornika i regulatora hrvatskoga tržišta kapitala te se skreće pozornost na okolnosti koje bi ona trebala uzeti u obzir pri obavljanju svojih javnopravnih nadzornih ovlasti, u odnosu na uočene sukobe interesa, ali pritom ne zadirući u privatnopravnu razinu odnosa koji su predmet nadzora.

The preventive restructuring of companies in difficulties

The Republic of Croatia is facing the biggest restructuring of companies in difficulties with substantial involvement of international financial investors. Restructuring is implemented according to a newly adopted Act on extraordinary administration proceeding in companies of systemic significance for the Republic of Croatia. The latter Act was adopted in the aftermath of the business failure of the major retailer i.e. the Agrokor group. The restructuring of the group has soon become a very sensitive political issue and a topic of heated public discussions. The Act has been heavily criticized both by legal scholarship and by the public for being designed for a single group of companies in Croatia, as well as for being incoherent with constitutional principles and existing insolvency legislation. It created a type of debtor-not-in-possession in-court extraordinary administration designed for systemic significant (group of) companies in state of insolvency or pre-insolvency. Departing from this background, this paper aims to provide a wider restructuring picture by comparing three different legal models of preventive corporate restructurings for firms in difficulties: the German protective shield proceedings, the English schemes of arrangment and the Italian extraordinary administration. The authors attempt to evaluate each model’s effectiveness on the basis of relevant studies which indicate their success rate. As far as the Croatian Act is concerned, the paper provides an overview of the development of the preventive restructuring law, while questioning certain aspect of the Act, especially the concept of the company of systemic significance.

Preliminary Results of the Exploratory Study on the Recovery of Companies in Difficulty: Case of Moroccan Women’s Enterprises

Preliminary Results of the Exploratory Study on the Recovery of Companies in Difficulty: Case of Moroccan Women’s Enterprises

Handling Corporate Crises Based on the Correct Analysis of Its Causes

The extent of a crisis is simultaneously reflected in several areas, making it a complex or multidimensional phenomenon affecting the economic, social, traditional, psychological and legal aspects of an organization. An analysis of the real causes of a crisis or serious problems in a company’s operations, which should not be confused with the symptoms or consequences of a crisis, is extremely important, as it can be used to identify the areas whose effects need to be limited or eliminated. Despite the fact that in business practice there are often suggestions and pressures in the recovery procedure not to deal with the analysis of the causes that brought on the crisis, claiming that it is all in the past and solutions have to be found for the future, the analysis of the real causes for the preparation of a recovery plan of a company is as important as the preparation of the measures to achieve the desired changes. To resolve a crisis, its real causes need to be eliminated or minimised, while working on the wrong causes is just a further waste of time, money and effort, which only makes the crisis situation worse. In the empirical part of the article, using a sample of 164 Slovenian companies in difficulty, the causes, as were listed by the management of these companies, were studied, while two stances were adopted regarding the two set hypotheses.

A Fuzzy Rule-Based Bayesian Reasoning Method for Analysing the Necessity of Super Slow Steaming under Uncertainty: Containership

The global economic and financial conditions in 2010 and 2011 were positive and the business trade grew at about twice of the rate of that in 2009. The container shipping players started to enjoy a new chapter of international business trade having struggled to operate their vessels since 2008. So we now have to consider if the shipping business will return to its old strategy? What will happen to the container shipping sector in 10 years from now still remains uncertain. Recently, the uncertain situation globally has been giving shipping companies in difficulty the opportunity to make decision as to whether it is necessary to use super slow steaming for containerships. Therefore, the aim of this study is to analyse the necessity of super slow steaming on containerships despite such uncertainty. A Fuzzy Rule-based Bayesian Reasoning method has been used which incorporates the membership function and 14 selected nodes. Finally, the outcome of this study is 48 rules which have been proposed to assist shipping companies in their decision making processes when dealing with the dynamic business environment. Each rule gives a clear-cut understanding of the result which is able to be applied to real situations the containership industry faces.

Investment decisions of companies in financial distress

This paper analyzes the influence of financial distress on the investment behavior of companies. The analysis includes companies from Germany, Canada, Spain, France, Italy, UK and USA, which cover a wide spectrum of different institutional environments. The methodology used is panel data estimation using the Generalized Method of Moments (System-GMM), thereby allowing control of both unobservable heterogeneity and the problems of endogeneity in explanatory variables. The results show that the influence of financial distress on investment is different according to the investment opportunities available to companies. So, companies in difficulties with fewer opportunities have the greatest propensity to under-invest, while firms in difficulties with better opportunities do not present different investment behavior than healthy companies.

As características da estrutura financeira brasileira e a trajetória de industrialização

O artigo tem como objetivo identificar as principais características da estrutura financeira brasileira usando a abordagem histórico-institucional, as alterações legais e discussões sobre suas transformações recentes. As conclusões indicam predomínio do crédito público para financiamento de longo prazo no investimento das firmas e pessoas físicas, aliado ao autofinanciamento por retenção de lucros. Nos anos 2000 o crédito público foi fortalecido devido à crise financeira internacional (2007-...), como parte de uma política anticíclica para manter a demanda aquecida e auxiliar as empresas a financiar os investimentos. No período de crescimento entre 2004 e 2008 foi possível identificar a participação das grandes empresas do mercado de capitais em produtos financeiros como forma de angariar recursos para valorização e investimentos. Entretanto, as grandes firmas se mantêm dependentes dos recursos dos bancos públicos e simpáticas à especulação e a assumir riscos elevados, revelados com a crise.

An Economic Assessment of State Aid for Restructuring Firms in Difficulty: Theoretical Considerations, Empirical Analysis and Proposals for Reform

State aid for rescue and restructuring (R&R) of companies in difficulty causes a significant distortion of competition, since it prevents the market from eliminating inefficient companies. Because of this, the European Commission has to be especially strict when it assesses R&R aid. This article examines recent cases of corporate restructuring partly funded with public money. It explains the main aspects of the current guidelines which are applicable to R&R state aid and establishes a theoretical framework for the economic assessment of R&R aid. It then analyses decisions adopted by the European Commission concerning R&R state aid during the period 2000-2013. It finds that there has been little economic rationale in the granting of R&R aid over the period. The article concludes by applying the lessons drawn from the empirical analysis to the anticipated revision of the R&R guidelines in the context of the State Aid Modernization process.

Fiscal Carry Forward of Losses by Companies in Difficulty

Fiscal Carry Forward of Losses by Companies in Difficulty

Restructurations et contrôle des aides d'État

La présente contribution aborde la question suivante : quelle est l’influence du droit européen des aides d’État à l’égard du phénomène des restructurations observé dans la Communauté européenne ? Elle identifie deux liens potentiels entre le droit des aides et les multiples restructurations qui essaiment à travers la Communauté. Le premier découle des règles posées par la Commission européenne pour l’octroi d’aides à la restructuration aux entreprises en difficulté ; le second résulte des possibilités d’aides régionales, encadrées par les conditions formulées par la gardienne des traités. Après avoir exploré ces deux domaines, un bilan est esquissé de même que sont formulées deux propositions en vue d’une gestion innovante des restructurations en Europe. De manière générale, les normes européennes ne provoquent ni une augmentation du nombre de restructurations, ni une accélération du cycle de ces restructurations. L’influence des ces normes apparaît, au contraire, comme globalement positive en termes d’intérêt commun aux États membres.

Business Process Re-engineering in Practice?An Example of A Medium-Sized Slovenian Company in Difficulties

Among the contemporary and globally adopted management methods, Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) is the most influential one. Although it was developed in American social and economic environment, it has been widely practiced also in Europe. Experience has demonstrated though that uncritical application of the original American BPR substance to European entrepreneurial practice is as a rule inefficient, often even incompatible with the basic social values. The globally adopted BPR method of company re-engineering is aimed at an increase in competitiveness and must be specified expertly and in view of its substance or adapted to numerous social and economic factors, i.e., requisitely holistically. This article deals with the application of the BPR method in the case of a medium-sized Slovenian company in difficulties. It illustrates the criteria for the selection of a management method of an innovative business change management that is the most efficacious in the Slovenian economy. The BPR project realization is defined from the viewpoint of the given implementation projects and criteria, enabling continual evaluation of the attained results of company reorganization. It presents a good case of informal systemic, i.e., requisitely holistic thinking and action.

An economic analysis of EC guidelines on state aid for the rescue and restructuring of companies in difficulty

The present Community guidelines on state aid for rescuing and restructuring firms in difficulty, a type of aid that is widely regarded as particularly distortive to the single market, will expire on 9 October 2004. The Commission has already identified a number of issues which it regards as problematic. This article draws attention to a number of further issues which also require clarification.

Tracking the recession: how to monitor business failure

Outlines the major sources of data on UK companies in difficulty. Covers official statistics, other government publications and commercial data sources, both print and online