Tuesday, March 03, 2009

Swedish Law – Company Reorganisation - Creditors’ Meeting

As mentioned earlier a creditors’ meeting should be held within three weeks from the date of the reorganisation decision or, if it is an unavoidable necessity, at a later date. Such an unavoidable necessity seems to have caused the SAAB creditors’ meeting to be held on April 6, 2009, more than six weeks from the date of the reorganisation decision.

The administrator will present at the meeting the information available to him concerning the financial status of the company and normally also a preliminary reorganisation plan setting out the manner in which the reorganisation can be achieved.

At the meeting the creditors are given the opportunity to express their opinion about whether the reorganisation should continue or not, but no formal vote is taken. It is of course of the outmost importance for the success of the reorganisation, that a substantial majority of the creditors agree to continue as a majority is needed in order to carry through an official composition with the creditors; although only a 40 % majority is needed to lodge an application for composition.

The creditors are entitled to request the court to appoint a creditors’ committee at the creditors’ meeting. If such a committee has been appointed the administrator shall consult with the committee in all significant issues.

It should be noted that during the reorganisation period, any creditor has the right to apply to the court for a decision to stop the proceedings. The court will agree to such an application if the court determines that the purpose of the reorganisation cannot be achieved.

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