Companies in financial distress
Companies in financial distress
If a company is in financial distress it is difficult for all parties involved. The entrepreneur has to decide (over and over again) whether or not to continue the business and which creditors may or may not be paid. A restructuring or relaunch may be considered. Perhaps a moratorium can lead to a solution or a private settlement can be offered with the help of the WHOA. Or you want to continue but you are faced with a insolvency petition by a creditor. Can you defend yourself against such a petition?
On the other side creditors are looking for ways to minimize their losses. Can they suspend deliveries? Are they allowed to reclaim delivered items?
There may also be employees who are facing wage arrears. What is their position?
Experienced insolvency lawyers
The court regularly appoints lawyers from our firm as trustees in corporate insolvencies and as administrators in moratoriums. The experience that our lawyers gain in this process is used in advising and guiding our clients. This may be the company that is in dire financial straits, but it may just as well be one of the other parties involved, such as a supplier, a finance company or an employee. A different approach may be necessary for each party involved. After all, the interests of a creditor are essentially different from the interests of, say, an employee or a director. In all cases, this is tailor-made work. A private limited company with dozens of employees, sometimes with several branches, requires a different approach than a general partnership with natural persons as partners.
If you have any questions after reading an article or if you have any other questions in the area of insolvency law, please do not hesitate to contact us. We will be happy to assist you.
More about companies in financial distress
Click further if you would like to learn more about how we can advise you on the following areas/topics:
SPECIALIZED LAWYERS
These are our lawyers who are specialized in this area.
More about companies in financial distress
WW premium: low or high rate?
With effect from 1 January 2020, the Labour Market Balancing Act (Wab) will introduce a new system for the WW premium. The sectoral premium differentiation will also be abolished, because many companies no longer belong to a single sector.
Terminating an Agency agreement by the Principal
An agency agreement (“Agency Agreement”) may be terminated with or without cause and below you will find a practicable explanation on which steps need to be considered. Please note that terminating an Agency Agreement may be done through the Cantonal Courts or by taking extra-judicial steps as set out in article 6:265 of the DCC. The EC directive (86/653/EEG) is implemented in the Netherlands in articles 7:428 to 7:455 of the Dutch Civil Code (“DCC”), which is mostly compulsory law, which means that deviation by agreement is generally not possible and that these provisions are overriding. This article will only address the situation where the Principal terminates or rescinds the Agency Agreement. My next article will address the situation of the Agent.
The shareholders’ agreement: what if agreements are not kept?
In my previous contributions "A shareholder agreement to make your startup investor-proof" and "The shareholder agreement: some practical tips" I already wrote about the usefulness and necessity of the shareholder agreement. In order to avoid conflicts with, for example, future investors, it is wise to make good agreements about the cooperation. Not only agreements about the positive aspects of the cooperation, but above all agreements about what should happen if the cooperation does not go as expected.


