E-flash: “Cease fire extended – moratorium on bankruptcies and enforcement measures until at least 17 june 2020”

On 24 April 2020, the moratorium on enforcement measures by creditors and bankruptcy declarations or judicial dissolutions entered into force for Belgian companies facing financial difficulties resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic/epidemic and the measures taken in the context of this pandemic/epidemic. This protection was initially in force until 17 May 2020. The moratorium has now been extended until at least 17 June 2020. The extension of the measure was announced on 13 May 2020 in the Belgian Official Gazette.

Concretely, this means that until 17 June 2020:

• Creditors cannot request bankruptcy, judicial dissolution and/or judicial reorganisation through a transfer of assets under judicial supervision of these companies. The obligation to declare bankruptcy, resting on the company’s management, is also suspended;
• Creditors cannot make use of preventive seizure or seizure for sale of movable goods (seizure of immovable goods and vessels remain possible);
• The payment terms of a reorganisation plan are suspended throughout the entire period;
• Contracts (with the exception of employment contracts) cannot be unilaterally terminated due to non-payment.

For a more detailed discussion of these measures, we refer to our e-zine of 28 April 2020.