In the March issue of INDat Report (03/2025), the focus article is all about the increasing importance of preliminary proceedings in insolvency law – a type of procedure that is characterized above all by a lack of information, documents that cannot be found and complex issues.
In an interview, lawyer Joachim Büttner, insolvency administrator and partner at BRRS Rechtsanwälte, outlines the difficulties in practical work when dealing with authorities that block requests for information. He sees possibilities that, among other things, information can still be obtained via data protection claims under Art. 15 GDPR because the debtor is obliged to cooperate.
At the same point, Büttner criticizes the legislator on the reform of insolvency avoidance law:
“The 2017 reform was window dressing […]. It did not have any noticeable impact on the openings.”
In this context, Büttner makes it clear that the requirements for insolvency administrators when contesting insolvency proceedings have risen continuously in recent years. The more recent case law (so-called realignment) on avoidance based on intent in particular forces administrators to carry out even more intensive investigations in order to be able to convincingly present facts relevant to avoidance. The decisive factor remains whether it is possible to convince the opposing party out of court or to persuade the courts to recognize the claims. If this is not successful – due to the increased requirements imposed by case law – then we can expect to see declining rates in the handling of proceedings.