New developments

Secured Transactions and Insolvency: Reforms at a Crossroads

On 5-6th May 2008 the EBRD jointly hosted an international conference with the World Bank and UNCITRAL in Washington. The conference  (0.1Mb), designed to address the intersection between secured transaction and insolvency in the context of legal reform was well attended by representatives from the Russian Federation, Serbia, India, Canada and the USA as well as practitioners from the IFC, Asian Development Bank, the OECD and INSOL. Issues discussed included:

• Whether increased creditors’ rights laws increase or decrease access to credit;
• The extent to which public proceedings should intrude on private contract rights;
• Whether empirical research indicates reform is succeeding;
• Reports from the field on the status of reform;
• Insolvency of enterprise groups; and
• Creditor control vs. debtor-in-possession control in bankruptcy proceedings.

In addition to the conference some of the representatives participated in a roundtable discussion. The roundtable, held after the general conference and open by invitation only, was designed to facilitate open discussion of insolvency and secured transactions work being performed amongst the various organisations and to identify areas for future collaboration. From the discussion, it is clear that reforms made in one area necessarily affect the other and it is vital for all stakeholders to consider both secured transactions and insolvency together.

Mortgages in transition economies

A new  EBRD publication, Mortgages in transition economies reviews the legal framework for mortgages and mortgage securities, see press release.

Working Seminar on Improving Legal Certainty in Aviation Financing Sector in Russia and the Cape Town Convention

A working seminar hosted by the EBRD and organised in association with the Aviation Working Group (AWG), on Improving Legal Certainty in the Aviation Financing Sector and the Cape Town Convention, was held at the EBRD Office in Moscow, on 6 March 2007. Seminar programme  (0.1Mb).

Adopted in 2001 and in force since 2006, the so-called Cape Town Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment and Protocol on Matters specific to Aircraft Equipment have brought remarkable certainty and transparency to the aviation financing sector. The USA, Ireland, South Africa, and many other states have ratified it and it is evident that the Convention is becoming an essential benchmark for investment in the aviation sector.

As part of its overall support to the Russian aviation sector, the EBRD believes that an understanding of the benefits that the Cape Town Convention and Aircraft Protocol could bring to the sector is an important step towards ratification. This Working Seminar provided a unique opportunity for Russian experts to become acquainted with the objectives of the Convention and Protocol and to meet with practitioners having first hand experience in the way the Convention operates and the changes it would bring to the current Russian legal framework.