The European Restructuring Directive and stays on creditor enforcement actions

The European Restructuring Directive is Europe's answer to Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code. Under the Directive, debtors will have access to early warning tools that enable them to detect a deteriorating business and this should lead to more restructurings at an early stage. The debtor will benefit from a time-limited ‘breathing space’ from enforcement action in order to facilitate negotiations on a restructuring plan. This article analyses in critical detail the stay or moratorium on actions against the debtor during the restructuring process. The stay is a fundamental part of the Directive. The paper highlights the importance of the stay and locates the stay in the context of the Directive and also in the light of the international parallels found in the US Bankruptcy Code and the UNCITRAL Legislative Guide on Insolvency Law.©2021 Wiley. This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: McCormack, G. (2021). The European Restructuring Directive and stays on creditor enforcement actions. International Insolvency Review 30(S1), S67-S88, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1002/iir.1423. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions. This article may not be enhanced, enriched or otherwise transformed into a derivative work, without express permission from Wiley or by statutory rights under applicable legislation. Copyright notices must not be removed, obscured or modified. The article must be linked to Wiley’s version of record on Wiley Online Library and any embedding, framing or otherwise making available the article or pages thereof by third parties from platforms, services and websites other than Wiley Online Library must be prohibited.fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed