Introduction

As of 17 April 2017, the creditors of a company that has been declared bankrupt must electronically file their declaration of debt using the Central Solvency Register (Regsol).

On 1 May 2018, following the implementation of the new insolvency law included in Book XX of the Code of Economic Law (for further information please see "Changes to insolvency regime proposed"), the digitisation of different insolvency proceedings (ie, bankruptcies, judicial reorganisations and company voluntary agreements) reached a new milestone. From that date, all new insolvency files must be commenced through Regsol and followed up on the same system.

In short, both bankruptcy filing and requests to open judicial reorganisation proceedings must be done electronically through Regsol. Further, the entire bankruptcy file or judicial reorganisation proceedings will be kept electronically and can be consulted via this platform. In addition, Regsol offers the following new features.

Electronic filing of insolvency

Both bankruptcy filing and requests to open judicial reorganisation proceedings must now be done electronically via Regsol. For a bankruptcy filing, the new insolvency law still permits that the filing can happen through the commercial court registry if the debtor cannot perform an electronic filing. In such cases, the registry will convert the declaration into an electronic filing.

As regards the form of electronic filing, the new insolvency law foresees that "the form will be determined by Royal Decree". However, to date, such a royal decree has not been issued and could be unnecessary, as Regsol provides a nine-step plan to follow when filing for bankruptcy.

Storage and access of insolvency files

Another new development is the electronic storage of insolvency files. Both bankruptcy and judicial reorganisation files are stored on Regsol and can be accessed via the platform.

For a bankruptcy file, each user will have access to:

  • the file's general information (including a timeline);
  • the debts filed by that user; and
  • the file's documents.

For judicial reorganisation proceedings, the law expressly requires that Regsol stores "all elements of the proceedings", including those reports drafted by the court-appointed administrators, provisional administrators and the delegated judge, together with the reports drawn up by the public prosecutor. Each party in the proceedings and each creditor can consult the electronic file of the judicial reorganisation proceedings and thus these documents.

Regsol's new features

Regsol has changed its overall look and feel and added some new features.

After logging into Regsol, each user now views a dashboard containing some convenient functions and options, including the option to:

  • consult a list of the user's files and the debts filed;
  • carry out a search on the basis of a company's name or number;
  • introduce a new (bankruptcy) file or debt; or
  • make a request to consult a file or report.

New declaration of debt form

Regsol also provides a new form for debt declaration after processing user feedback regarding such declarations. Essentially, users will find one electronic form consisting of the following fields to be filled in by the user:

  • the amount of debt;
  • the necessary information and documents supporting the debt;
  • information regarding any pending proceedings; and
  • information regarding any personal securities.

The declaration can be filed after completion of this form.

However, so far, some technical problems have impeded the electronic platform from functioning properly.

For further information on this topic please contact Bart Heynickx or Charlotte Vermeersch at ALTIUS by telephone (+32 2 426 1414) or email ([email protected] or [email protected]). The ALTIUS website can be accessed at www.altius.com.

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