{"id":4156,"date":"2022-01-01T12:52:24","date_gmt":"2022-01-01T12:52:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/millercanfield.pl\/?p=4156"},"modified":"2025-04-14T18:03:52","modified_gmt":"2025-04-14T18:03:52","slug":"amendment-to-arrangement-approval-proceedings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/millercanfield.pl\/en\/amendment-to-arrangement-approval-proceedings\/","title":{"rendered":"AMENDMENT TO ARRANGEMENT APPROVAL PROCEEDINGS"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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On 1 December 2021, an amendment to the Act on National Debtor Register and Certain Other Acts (\u201cAmendment\u201d) came into force. One of the most significant changes ushered in under the Amendment is the complete revamping of the\u2014so far highly niche\u2014arrangement approval proceedings.<\/p>

The arrangement approval proceedings are an offshoot of the simplified restructuring proceedings (\u201cSRP\u201d), very popular during the pandemic, that were enacted under the Act on Subsidies to Interest Rates on Bank Loans Granted to Businesses Affected by COVID-19 and on Simplified Arrangement Approval Proceedings in Connection with Emergence of COVID-19, also known as Shield 4.0. The main advantage of the SRP was the ability to announce the opening of the arrangement conducted under the provisions of the restructuring law. This type of announcement could only be made once. Its main effect was the suspension of all the enforcement proceedings pending against the debtor until the conclusion of the proceedings. The SRP turned out to be an extremely popular measure, eagerly opted for by businesses. However, from the very outset it was intended as a temporary solution.<\/p>

Thus, when on 30 November 2021 the option of the SRP ceased to be available, the legislators replaced it with the completely revamped arrangement approval proceedings. The arrangement approval proceedings fall into several stages.<\/p>

The first step is for the debtor to enter into an agreement for supervision over the proceedings with a restructuring advisor, whereby a table of claims and a preliminary restructuring plan are drawn up. Immediately after the institution of the proceedings, the debtor sets the arrangement date, which must fall no earlier than 3 months and no later than the day immediately preceding the day on which the application for approval of the arrangement is submitted. The arrangement date set, the supervisor makes an announcement in the National Debtor Register (in contrast to the SRP, where the\u00a0 announcement was made in Monitor S\u0105dowy i Gospodarczy). Upon making the announcement, any enforcement proceedings pending against the business are suspended. Another novelty introduced under the Amendment is the requirement for the supervisor to establish and maintain the records of the proceedings in an ICT system.<\/p>

The next step is for the supervisor to hold a vote among the creditors on the arrangement. The vote is taken via an ICT system servicing the proceedings or at a meeting of creditors convened by the supervisor specifically for that purpose. Then the supervisor counts the votes and confirms that the arrangement has been approved.<\/p>

When that happens, as the last step of the process, the debtor is required to file an application for approval of the arrangement. Such an application may not be filed later than 4 months from the date on which the announcement of the arrangement day has been made. The application is\u00a0 examined by the competent court and a decision is issued to approve or reject it. This is
the debtor\u2019s only role in the entire arrangement approval proceedings.<\/p>

Thus, as becomes evident, the proceedings for approval of the arrangement are an extremely informal process that requires almost no involvement of the court. In combination with the requirement for the\u00a0 proceedings to be conducted by a professional advisor, this provides a relatively simple and accessible method of handling the restructuring, even for undertakings that may be unfamiliar with this particular area of law. Thus, the amendments made by the legislators must be seen as positive, and the arrangement approval proceedings will undoubtedly become a very popular legal tool among debtors.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\u00a9 Miller, Canfield, W. Babicki, A. Che\u0142chowski i Wsp\u00f3lnicy Sp. k.<\/span>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t