Zamfirescu Racoti Vasile & Partners has announced the appointment of Violeta Saranciuc and Alexandru Iorgulescu to the firm's partnership. The two new partners will join the management teams of the international arbitration and restructuring & insolvency departments, respectively.

Galloping inflation and post-COVID-19 challenges are shaping the litigation market in Austria, with an unparalleled volume of insolvencies feeding into a high rate of litigation. Meanwhile, the Austrian government remains hesitant to implement the European collective redress system.

On November 1, 2023, the amendment to the Slovenian Insolvency Act (ZFPPIPP-H) entered into force and introduced a series of significant changes that should not be overlooked.

Austria implemented Directive (EU) 2019/1023 on preventive restructuring frameworks with the Restructuring Regulation, which came into force on July 17, 2021, and introduced (further) judicial proceedings for preventive restructuring. Practice, however, has shown that the reorganization plan in insolvency proceedings and out-of-court restructuring remain the methods of choice in Austria.

As a result of the challenges that the local market has been facing over the past years brought on by the recent pandemic, wars, and other changes in the market, the majority of businesses are faced with losses and accumulating high levels of debt. Consequently, enormous pressure is imposed on businesses, including on their viability, which, in turn, pushes the need to explore methods for overcoming these obstacles.

If someone is unable to pay their outstanding and due debts (or is just partly able to do so), that person is considered insolvent. This applies to companies and to natural persons as well. The number of companies that had to cease operations because of insolvency increased in 2023. Although the Hungarian legal environment provides several solutions to this problem, these have different effectiveness and have different consequences for both debtors and creditors. Below is a general overview of the four typical procedures for dealing with insolvency in the current Hungarian law.