Debt to Equity Swap in Slovenian and German Insolvency Legislation

Glavni namen pričujoče magistrske naloge je predstaviti institut konverzije terjatev (debt to equity swap) v slovenski in nemški insolvenčni zakonodaji. Poenostavljeno lahko konverzijo terjatev v lastniške deleže definiramo kot ukrep finančnega prestrukturiranja, s katerim se terjatve upnikov do dolžnika spremenijo (konvertirajo) v lastniški delež v dolžniku. Prvi del magistrske naloge je namenjen predstavitvi slovenske pozitivnopravne ureditve, ki izvedbo konverzije omogoča v postopku prisilne poravnave. Poglavje se podrobno posveča terjatvam, ki so lahko predmet konverzije, in samemu postopku konverzije (gre za obliko povečanja osnovnega kapitala s stvarnimi vložki, ki jo pogosto spremlja sočasno zmanjšanje osnovnega kapitala zaradi nepokritih izgub). Obravnavan je tudi vpliv konverzije na dolžnikove finance in na njegove računovodske izkaze. Drugi del naloge obravnava ureditev konverzije terjatev v nemški zakonodaji, ki je v osnovi zelo podobna slovenski. Razvidno je, da vsebuje nemško pravo v primerjavi s slovenskim precej manj specialnih določb glede konverzije terjatev, kar se v določenih primerih izkaže kot dobrodošlo, v drugih pa bi posebna ureditev pripeljala do boljših rezultatov. Druga temeljna ugotovitev je, da daje nemško pravo precej večjo pozornost odpravnini lastnikom, izrinjenim iz družbe. Sklepno poglavje primerja nekatere najpomembnejše elemente pravne ureditve konverzije, poskuša najti razloge za razlike in na podlagi primerjave obeh sistemov podaja predloge, ki bi lahko služili kot temelj za prihodnje izboljšave zakonske ureditve.The main purpose of this thesis is to present the legal regulation of the conversion of debt into equity (debt to equity swap) in Slovenian and German insolvency legislation. In very general terms, debt to equity swap can be defined as a means of financial restructuring by which loans are transformed into an equity position in the company. The first part of the thesis deals with the regulation of the debt to equity swap in Slovenian law, where this transaction is a part of the compulsory settlement procedure. Special emphasis is drawn to the characteristics of loans that can be transformed into an equity position and to the debt to equity swap procedure, which is a special form of a capital increase in kind, often accompanied by a simplified capital reduction due to uncovered loss. Additionally, the impact of the swap on debtor’s financial situation and his financial statements is discussed as well. The second part of the thesis gives insight into the German regulation of the debt to equity swap, which is very similar to the Slovenian one. It is shown that German law does not provide for as many swap-specific rules as Slovenian law, which is to be welcomed in some cases, whereas in others, it can be considered as a weakness. The second fundamental difference is the much more thorough approach of German law towards the compensation for withdrawing company owners. The final chapter compares some of the most important elements of the debt to equity swap regulation and attempts to find the reasons for the differences. Additionally, basing on the comparative analysis, it provides suggestions that could be used for further improvements of the legal regulation