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When Crisis Crosses Borders
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By Deborah Hicks Midanek
Fall 2003
Reprint 4516
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Volume 45, Number 1, pages 16-19, 4 pages
Primary Topic: Global Business
Secondary Topic: Financial Management
SummaryEvolving a global approach to corporate distress is a difficult challenge, says the author, in part because codes vary internationally, reflecting fundamental differences in approaches to bankruptcy and attitudes about financial recovery. The U.S. approach favors rehabilitation as the way to serve creditors and restore value, whereas European nations lean toward liquidation. The author, who has worked with troubled companies in a variety of roles, describes how practitioners abroad are developing new, integrated approaches. Under the "light touch" approach, for example, a court-appointed administrator comes to agreement with the incumbent management team on operating protocols and delegates limited authority to it under administrator supervision. Thus, a more flexible, pragmatic approach is evolving that could represent a breakthrough for the global business community. To capitalize on such trends, the author, there are two additional strategies that could help establish common ground between the European and U.S. systems. The first is early intervention, which could make a difference in Europe and in relatively simple cases of corporate distress. However, in more complex situations, especially those that involve a bankruptcy filing in one or more national jurisdictions, a technique that is increasingly popular in the United States could be useful -- the retention of a "chief restructuring officer." Reporting to the board of directors rather than to a company's existing management team, a CRO is charged with developing and executing a plan to restructure the company's finances and/or operations. According to the author, the involvement of a CRO might well increase the likelihood of successful outcomes when rehabilitation is attempted with Europe-based companies, in part because many European practitioners lack experience in restructuring. With the various regulatory and attitudinal changes taking place across Europe, the author contends that a viable common-ground approach that seeks to maximize enterprise value is evolving -- to the benefit of companies, creditors and economies. |
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