The new Greek Insolvency Framework

Abstract

On June 20, 2019, the European Parliament and the Council adopted the Directive (EU) 2019/1023 (the “Restructuring Directive”). One of the main goals of the Restructuring directive is to increase the efficiency of restructuring, insolvency and discharge instrument of the member states, which may qualify as an admission that in some cases they are out-of-date or lack the appropriate human resources. Given the weaknesses of the Greek framework, the Restructuring Directive was going to require a substantial response from the Greek government and legislators. Against this background, the Greek government decided at the end of 2019 to engage a small team of legal experts to propose a new insolvency and restructuring framework. The draft produced was subjected to extensive public deliberation and was finally adopted on October 27, 2020. It has since been put into effect in its entirety. The new law purports to transpose the Restructuring Directive and it would appear that Greece is the only member state to have done so by the original deadline of June 2021. In this article, the authors provide a broad outline of the new Greek insolvency framework. In light of the interest that the implementation of the Restructuring Directive may have for a broader international audience, the authors pay particular attention to the ways in which the DSL implements the provisions of that Directive.