Fourth UNCITRAL International Insolvency Law Colloquium, 16-18 December 2013, Vienna

At its forty-sixth session in 2013, the Commission agreed that Working Group V (Insolvency Law) should hold a colloquium in the first few days of the working group session scheduled for the second half of 2013 to clarify how it would proceed with outstanding aspects of its current mandate, including application of the concept of "centre of main interests" to enterprise groups, the obligations of directors of companies that are members of an enterprise group in the period approaching insolvency and the insolvency of financial institutions, and to consider topics for possible future work, including insolvency issues specific to micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises. The colloquium, which will be the fourth such colloquium held to discuss issues of international insolvency law, will take place from 16 through 18 December 2013 at the Vienna International Centre.
The colloquium will be conducted on an informal basis and will be open to experts from government, the private sector, academia and the non-profit sector. Interpretation in the six official languages of the United Nations (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish) will be available.
The colloquium will be followed by the forty-fourth session of Working Group V on 19 and 20 December. Attendance at the Working Group will be restricted to Member and Observer States and those intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations invited to participate.
Experts seeking to participate in the colloquium will need to register by completing the registration form and collect a grounds pass from the United Nations Security Pass Office in order to access the Vienna International Centre (a passport is required for the release of the ground pass).

A. Remaining elements of the current mandate of WG V

Session 1: Facilitating the cross-border insolvency of multi-national enterprise groups

Moderator: Christopher Redmond (United States)

Richard Favier (United Kingdom)

Robert van Galen (Netherlands)

Allan Gropper (United States)

Irit Mevorach (World Bank)

Session 2: Model law or convention on selected international insolvency issues (including choice of law issues)

Moderator: Susan Block-Lieb (United States)

Angel Maria Ballesteros Barros (Spain) - Propuesta de convenio internacional sobre insolvencia transfronteriza

Min Han (Republic of Korea) - Model Law or Convention on Selected International Insolvency Issues

Edward Janger (United States) - Choice of Law in Cross-Border Cases

Session 3: Insolvency of large and complex financial institutions

Moderator:Neil Cooper (United Kingdom)

Eva Hüpkes (Bank for International Settlements) - FSB work on cross-border resolution

Reto Schiltknecht (Switzerland) - Recognition of cross-border insolvency measures for banks - the Swiss solution

Rebecca Simmons (United States)

A. Remaining elements of the current mandate of WG V (cont'd)

Session 4: Obligations of directors of enterprise group companies in the period approaching insolvency

Moderator: Mark Smith (United Kingdom)

Irit Mevorach (World Bank)

Riz Mokal (United Kingdom)

Christopher Redmond (United States)

Leon Zwier (Australia)

B. Topics for possible future work

Session 1: Issues relating to creditors and claims

Presentation

Moderator: Leif Clark (United States)

Richard Favier (United Kingdom)

Jasnica Garasic (Croatia)

Debra Grassgreen (United States)

Martin Prager (Germany)

Carren Shulman (United States)

Session 2: The insolvency treatment of financial contracts and netting

Moderator: Christoph Paulus (Germany)

Klaus Loeber (Bank for International Settlements) - Close-out netting: Impact on risk management and systemic risk

Riz Mokal (United Kingdom) - Financial contracts and netting - UNCITRAL Insolvency Legislative Guide's Recommendations

Philipp Paech (Unidroit) - The Unidroit Principles on Close-out Netting

Peter Werner (ISDA)

Session 3: Regulation of insolvency practitioners

Neil Cooper (United Kingdom) - Insolvency Office Holders Principles

Mahesh Uttamchandani (World Bank/IFC/MIGA)

- 18 December -

B. Topics for possible future work (cont'd)

Session 4: Enforcement of insolvency-derived judgements

Moderator: Gordon Stewart (United Kingdom) - The recognition and enforcement of foreign insolvency derived judgments

Alexander Klauser (Austria) - The Approach of the European Insolvency Regulation

Geoffrey Morawetz (Canada) - The Canadian approach to enforcement of insolvency-derived foreign judgments

Jean-Luc Vallens (France) - Recognition and enforcement of insolvency-derived judgements under French law

Session 5: Insolvency treatment of intellectual property in cross-border insolvency cases

Moderator: Robin Phelan (United States)

Spyridon Bazinas (UNCITRAL) - The impact of insolvency on IP licences in the work of UNCITRAL

Patricia Godfrey (United Kingdom)

Martin Prager (Germany)

C. Mandated future work

Expedited, simplified proceedings, including pre-packs and other mechanisms suitable for the insolvency of micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises

Moderator: Kate Lannan (UNCITRAL)

Yan Liu (International Monetary Fund) - Exit Strategy For SMEs - Macro-economic Relevance and Challenges

Luis Manuel Meján Carrer (Mexico) - An Insolvency regime for MSMEs

Mahesh Uttamchandani (World Bank/IFC/MIGA) - Global Landscape for MSMEs

Diana Talero (Colombia) - The Colombian experience