21st June 2012

Stricter rules for insolvency announcement discussed

The Chamber of Deputies discussed a governmental proposal of amendments to the Act on Insolvency (zákon o úpadku, insolvenční zákon) in the second reading. The aim of the Bill is to protect the competitive position of companies. The Bill regulates primarily the process of bankruptcy announcement. The announcement has been used by creditors of a company to distort a competition (public contracts and other tenders) and influence the possible result of the competition by uncertainty about the financial position of the respective company. Creditors also use the insolvency proceeding to substitute different but appropriate measurers of debt recovery. The Bill stipulates that a court may proclaim the bankruptcy announcement reasonless and impose a fine on creditors for distorting the financial (and competitive) position of the respective company.
The Bill has been discussed by the Committee for Constitutional Law. The Committee approved the Bill and proposed the Chamber of Deputies to pass the Bill. The Bill is heading to the third reading; the plenary session will approve the Bill and amendments to the Bill raised by the Committee and deputies. The Act should come into force in one month after its promulgation.

For further information regarding the Bill, click here (sites of the Chamber of Deputies); source: explanatory report.

The plenary session of the Chamber also discussed a governmental proposal to the Act on Protection of Competition in the second reading on 20 June. The Bill introduces the so-called leniency program encouraging the system of cartel agreement announcement. The Bill also stipulates a strengthen role of the Office for the Protection of Competition in the system of competition control. The Bill is heading to the third reading; deputies will decide upon the wording of the Bill (some amendments to the governmental proposal have been raised).

For further information regarding the Bill, click here (sites of the Chamber of Deputies, including further discussions of the Bill).

Members of the American Chamber of Commerce in the Czech Republic