Restructuring in the shadow of the law Inform al reorganisation in the N etherlands

Transcription

1 Restructuring in the shadow of the law Inform al reorganisation in the N etherlands

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3 Restructuring in the shadow of the law Inform al reorganisation in the N etherlands P RO E F S C H RIF T ter v erk rijging v an de graad v an D octor aan de U niv ersiteit L eiden, op gez ag v an de Rector M agnificus dr. D.D. B reim er, hoogleraar in de faculteit der W isk unde en N atuurwetenschap p en en die der G eneesk unde, v olgens b esluit v an het C ollege v oor P rom oties te v erdedigen op donderdag 1 5 decem b er te k lok k e uur door Johannes A ntonius A drianus A driaanse geb oren te O osterhout in

4 Promotiecommissie: promotores: referent: leden: Prof. dr. J.G. K uijl RA Prof. mr. A.F.M. Brenninkmeijer Prof. mr. B. Wessels (V rije Universiteit Amsterdam) Prof. dr. J.M.J. Blommaert (Universiteit van Tilburg en Universiteit Leiden) Prof. dr. O. Couwenberg (Rijksuniversiteit Groningen) Prof. dr. J. Dijksma (Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen) Prof. mr. N.J.H. Huls (Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam en Universiteit Leiden) Prof. dr. W.B. Simons (Universiteit Leiden en Università degli Studi di Trento, Italië ) V an dit proefschrift is ook een handelseditie verschenen bij K luwer Deventer onder ISBN Lay -out: Anne-Marie K rens Tekstbeeld Oegstgeest 2005 J.A.A. Adriaanse Alle rechten voorbehouden. Niets uit deze uitgave mag worden verveelvoudigd, opgeslagen in een geautomatiseerd gegevensbestand, of openbaar gemaakt, in enige vorm of op enige wijze, hetzij elektronisch, mechanisch, door fotokopieë n, opnamen of enige andere manier, zonder voorafgaande schriftelijke toestemming van de auteur. V oorzover het maken van kopieë n uit deze uitgave is toegestaan op grond van art. 16 b Auteurswet 1912 jo. het Besluit van 20 juni 1974, Stb. 3 51, zoals gewijzigd bij Besluit van 23 augustus 198 5, Stb. 4 71, en art. 17 Auteurswet 1912, dient men de daarvoor wettelijk verschuldigde vergoedingen te voldoen aan de Stichting Reprorecht (Postbus 3 051, K B Hoofddorp). V oor het overnemen van gedeelte(n) uit deze uitgave in bloemlezingen, readers en andere compilatiewerken (art. 16 Auteurswet 1912) dient men zich tot de auteur te wenden. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by print, photo print, microfilm or any other means without written permission from the author.

5 But for what he did, Harry Zale looked perfect. He was a workout artiste, and the workout artistes were the Marines, the commandos, the G.I. Joes of commercial banking Sell it, he said And then Peepgass saw them The saddlebags! The saddlebags! The saddlebags had formed! They were complete! The great stains of sweat on the tycoon s shirt had now spread from both sides, from under the arms and across the rib cage and beneath the curves of his mighty chest until they had met, come together, hooked up two dark ex panses joined at the sternum. They looked just like a pair of saddlebags on a horse Oh, Peepgass loved it! Harry had done it again! gotten his saddlebags even with a tough old bird like Charlie Croker! Tom Wolfe, A Man in Full

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7 Preface In tim es o f eco n o m ic d eclin e th e atten tio n fo cu s ed o n co m p an ies in fin an cial d ifficu lties g en erally in creas es. F o r m an y th is is a u n w elco m e b u t ab s o lu te n eces s ity : clien ts ru n in to d ifficu lties as a res u lt o f w h ich in v o ices are p aid late o r n o t at all, an im p o rtan t s u p p lier g o es in to liq u id atio n an d th erefo re a n ew s u p p lier m u s t b e fo u n d q u ick ly, o r th e em p lo y er is u n d er th reat o f b eco m in g in s o lv en t, creatin g all k in d s o f u n certain ties fo r relev an t em p lo y ees an d th eir fam ilies. S tran g ely en o u g h, to o th ers th e n ew s o f a co m p an y s fin an cial d ifficu lties is v ery g o o d n ew s in d eed an d as s u ch ap p ears to b e w elco m e. S p ecialis ed law y ers an d s o -called co rp o rate reco v ery co n s u ltan ts are, p ar ex cellen ce, th e v ery p arties w h o can p ro fit fro m th e ev en t o f a s o -called (im m in en t) co rp o rate d eath. Iro n ically en o u g h, th e em p lo y ees in an y g iv en In ten s iv e C are D ep artm en t als o b en efit fro m a d eterio rated s tate o f affairs w ith in th e g ro u p o f clien ts o f th eir b an k. T h e latter certain ly als o ap p lies to a res earch er in to reo rg an is atio n an d in s o lv en cy : th e m o re fin an cial m is ery th e b etter. D u rin g th e las t fo u r y ears th erefo re, th e u n d ers ig n ed lik e s o m e k in d o f cu rio u s s ig h ts eer at th e s cen e o f a d is as ter h as s tu d ied th e D u tch p ractices in reg ard to co m p an ies in fin an cial d ifficu lties. In p articu lar th e p h en o m en o n o f in fo rm al reo rg an is atio n h as b een s tu d ied : th is in v o lv es a res tru ctu rin g p ro ces s o u ts id e th e s tatu to ry fram ew o rk s u ch as in th e N eth erlan d s th e M o rato riu m ( S u rs ean ce v an B etalin g ), th e Priv ate p ers o n F res h s tart Pro - ceed in g s ( W et S ch u ld s an erin g N atu u rlijk e Pers o n en ) o r L iq u id atio n ( F aillis s e- m en t ). T h e relev an ce o f in fo rm al reo rg an is atio n is co n s id erab le; it is n o t o n ly ap p licab le to co m p an ies o n th e b rin k o f b an k ru p tcy. T h e p rin cip les o f in fo rm al reo rg an is atio n can als o b e ap p lied to co m p an ies w h ich are n o t in an im m ed iate cris is s itu atio n as s u ch, b u t w h ich w ill b e in th at s itu atio n s o o n er o r later if n o actio n is tak en. E v en m o re relev an t is th e p o s s ib ility th at th e p rin cip les an d u n d erly in g id eas o f in fo rm al reo rg an is atio n m ay b e ex cep tio n ally s u itab le fo r h ealth y co m p an ies. T h e p erio d ic s creen in g o f a co m p an y fo r (p o s s ib le) n eg ativ e d ev elo p m en ts an d th e im p lem en tatio n o f s trateg ic, fin an cial an d o p eratio n al ch an g es w h ere req u ired, is in d eed n o t th e eas ies t o f m eth o d s ; h o w ev er, it is th e m o s t effectiv e m eth o d to p rev en t liq u id atio n. R etain in g v alu e

8 VIII Preface by taking small steps from time to time leads to results which cannot be matched by even the most extensive rescue operations. 1 Because of the broad approach with regard to the subject matter of informal reorganisation, this study could be of interest to a large group of interested parties: not only to those involved with the daily prevention and solving of financial problems, but particularly also to those who intentionally or unintentionally have been or are at times confronted with a deteriorated state of affairs in companies and businesses. They may include accountants, auditors, management consultants, lawyers, bankers, politicians, civil servants, managers and entrepreneurs. Place or country of business hardly plays a role in this respect: after all, in principle the laws of business economics are universal. With regard to undertaking and completing this study, I owe a debt of gratitude to the research institute of the Dutch Ministry of Justice (WO DC), as well as all other persons and institutions who rendered their voluntary assistance to the realisation of this work. Finally, the essence of being a curious sightseer at the scene of a disaster is that he does not contribute to the relief efforts connected with the results of such a disaster, any more that he was able to prevent it in the first place. Stronger still, onlookers are often in the way. Not unimportantly, they often create additional traffic-jams many times on the other side of the road as well not to mention new accidents. I sincerely hope this study will not contribute to such line of thought regarding companies in financial difficulties. In all modesty, I hope that the result of my sightseeing activities complied in the current travel report will in some way make a positive contribution to future policy decisions in general and restructuring processes in particular, both in the Netherlands and hopefully much further abroad. Should this not be the case, then stop reading immediately and I shall then turn the hourglass over and start again. This manuscript was completed on 1 May The H ague, May Jan A d riaan s e 1 See also Copeland et al., p. 18.

9 Table of contents LIS T O F A B B R E V IA TIO N S X III 1 R E A S O N F O R TH E S TU D Y, TH E P R O B LE M D E F IN ITIO N A N D TH E M E TH O D S A P P LIE D Intr od u ction R eason P r oject C om p etition, D er eg u lation and Q u ality of Leg islation (M D W ) Infor m al r eor g anisation as an alter nativ e for m or ator iu m? P r oblem d efinition R esear ch m eth od olog y A r r ang em ent of ch ap ter s 9 2 F O R M A L A N D IN F O R M A L R E O R G A N IS A TIO N S Intr od u ction H ealth y com p anies and cau ses of financial d ifficu lties F or m al r eor g anisation m eth od s M or ator iu m Liq u id ation F r esh S tar t P r oceed ing Infor m al r eor g anisation m eth od s R estr u ctu r ing bu siness op er ations F inancial r estr u ctu r ing Th e r ole of bank s p r ov id ing cr ed it Th e ad v antag es and d isad v antag es of infor m al r eor g anisation com p ar ed to for m al r eor g anisation A d v antag es D isad v antag es E v alu ation of ad v antag es and d isad v antag es H y br id p r oced u r es Inter national d ev elop m ents in r esp ect of infor m al r eor g anisations C onclu sion 4 1

10 X Table of contents 3 INFORMAL REORGANISATIONS IN PRACTICE: 35 CASE STUDIES Introduction Categories of causes, measures and bottlenecks Case studies of successful informal reorganisations Causes of financial difficulties Measures w ithin the framew ork of restructuring business operations Measures w ithin the framew ork of financial restructuring Bottlenecks Success factors Successful informal reorganisations conclusion Case studies of failed informal reorganisations Causes of financial difficulties Measures w ithin the framew ork of restructuring business operations Measures w ithin the framew ork of financial restructuring Bottlenecks Failure factors Failed informal reorganisations conclusion Confrontation successful and failed informal reorganisations Conclusion 65 4 PRACTICAL EXPERIENCES AND OPINIONS: SURVEYS AND INTERVIEWS Introduction Dutch trade organisation for Credit Management Survey Introduction General details of the respondents Survey results VVCM conclusion Dutch Foundation for the provision of advice and support to SMEs Survey Introduction General details of the respondents Survey results OK B conclusion Federation of Dutch Insolvency Law yers Survey Introduction General details of the respondents Survey results Insolad conclusion Dutch Federation of Independent Accounting Firms Survey Introduction General details of the respondents Survey results 78

11 Table of contents XI SRA conclusion Interviews Introduction Results of the interviews Interviews conclusion Conclusion 87 5 INFORMAL REORGANISATION IN THE FUTURE: TOWARDS AN INSTITUTIONALISED INFORMAL APPROACH Introduction Individual or joint action: the prisoner s dilemma of interested parties INSOL Statement of Principles The eight principles A number of concluding comments with the eight principles Banks and Businesses Code Alternative resolution of disputes and mediation Definitions Mediation during informal reorganisations Alternative dispute resolution and informal reorganisation Competency of the Reorganisation Mediator Moment to call in a mediator Conflict relationships The mediation process Voluntary cooperation Costs of mediation Conclusion THE MAIN FINDINGS Conclusions In conclusion Suggestions for further study 139 SUMMARY 141 SAMENVATTING (SUMMARY IN DUTCH) 149 BIBLIOGRAPHY 159 DEFINITIONS AND TRANSLATIONS OF TERMS 171 APPENDICES 181 INDEX 353 CURRICULUM VITAE 363