Insolvency proceedings from a sustainability perspective

Abstract

Sustainability is a wide concept including environmental, economic, social/culture, and political dimensions. Currently, sustainability research is a rich scientific discipline producing a significant number of research papers. However, sustainability in the context of insolvency proceedings has attracted little research compared with, for example, how much attention corporate social responsibility has received in company law research. This article studies sustainability in the context of liquidation and restructuring proceedings and the preservation of different kinds of resources (natural, manufactured, human, and social capital) in insolvency procedures. The purpose of insolvency proceedings may prevent the full implementation of sustainability. In bankruptcy, the administrator must maximise the selling price for creditor satisfaction, and there are few possibilities to promote sustainability. When facing an acute environmental hazard, in the name of public interest, a bankruptcy estate with assets usually has to act unless the law stipulates that society is responsible for taking care of the problem. In restructuring proceedings, the main purpose is to continue the debtor's business. It depends on the markets how sustainable the debtor company must be to achieve profitability. If becoming a profitable company in a "green" or otherwise sustainable market requires costly efforts, creditors' interests may require the sale of the assets. The author views through sustainability lenses EU Restructuring and insolvency Directive (2019) and finds there is not much of a sustainability approach included. ; Peer reviewed