Creditors' committee

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The creditors 'committee is the decision-making body of the (insolvency) creditors provided for in the German insolvency code in addition to the creditors ' meeting. The insolvency regulation provides for the formation of a creditors' committee only in larger cases. As a result, creditors 'committees are only set up in more significant cases, with the creditors' committee always being established by resolution of the bankruptcy court .

species

The bankruptcy code provides three types of creditors' committee:

  • the provisional creditors' committee set up by the insolvency court in the insolvency application procedure (cf. § 21 para. 1a , 22a InsO ),
  • the provisional creditors' committee set up by the insolvency court in the opened insolvency proceedings (cf. § 67 InsO ) and
  • the creditors 'committee confirmed or elected by the creditors' meeting (cf. § 68 InsO ).

For the provisional creditors' committee in the insolvency application procedure, § 22a InsO provides for cases in which the insolvency court must use it.

Members

The creditors' committee usually consists of an odd number of members, with committees with three or five members predominating in practice. In the cases of preliminary creditors 'committees, the members are selected by the bankruptcy court or otherwise by the creditors' meeting. In practice, creditors' committees often include representatives of the following groups of creditors:

Particularly in cases of ordered self-administration, there is a risk that a creditors' committee made up of members ("family and friends") who are too close to the insolvent company will perform its tasks too uncritically. Appointing the provisional creditors' committee is one of the most responsible tasks of the bankruptcy court.

tasks

The main tasks of the creditors' committee include:

  • participation in the selection of the insolvency administrator or trustee (cf. § 56a InsO ),
  • participation in the decision on ordering self-administration (cf. § 270 Paragraph 3 InsO ),
  • the support and supervision of the insolvency administrator,
  • the examination of money transactions within the framework of insolvency proceedings (usually by a cash auditor appointed by the creditors' committee) and
  • consent to significant legal acts, e.g. B. on the sale of real estate or the company or to initiate legal disputes with significant amounts in dispute (cf. § 160 InsO ).

As part of these tasks, the creditors' committee must always take into account the interests of all creditors in the best possible outcome of the insolvency proceedings. Individual members of the creditors 'committee are not allowed to put their own (special) interests above the interests of the creditors' community. For example, an employee representative in the creditors 'committee must also base his decision on the interests of the creditors' community if the decision leads to disadvantages for employees.

literature

  • Hubert Ampferl / Raik Kilper: Creditors Committee ZIP-Praxisbuch 7, 2019, RWS Verlag Cologne, ISBN 978-3-8145-8186-6 .