Full citation:\u00a0\u00a0Act to Temporarily Suspend the Obligation to File for Insolvency and to Limit Directors\u2019 Liability in the Case of Insolvency Caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic (COVID-19-Insolvenzaussetzungsgesetz \u2013 COVInsAG) of 27 March 2020 (Federal Law Gazette I, p. 569)<\/p>\n
Section 1<\/strong> The obligation to file a request for insolvency under section 15a of the Insolvency Code (Insolvenzordnung) and under section 42 (2) of the Civil Code (B\u00fcrgerliches Gesetzbuch) is suspended until 30 September 2020. This does not apply where the insolvency is not a consequence of the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus (COVID-19 pandemic) or where there are no prospects of remedying the insolvency. Where the debtor was not illiquid on 31\u00a0December 2019, it is assumed that the insolvency is a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic and that there are prospects of remedying the insolvency. If the debtor is a natural person, section 290 (1) no. 4 of the Insolvency Code applies, with the proviso that the refusal to discharge residual debt may not rely on a delay in the opening of insolvency proceedings in the period from 1 March 2020 to 30 September 2020. Sentences 2 and 3 apply accordingly.<\/p>\n Section 2<\/strong> (1) Where the obligation to file a request for insolvency has been suspended in accordance with section 1,<\/p>\n 1.\u00a0\u00a0payments which are made in the ordinary course of business, in particular those payments which serve to maintain or resume business operations or to implement a restructuring concept, are deemed to be consistent with the due care of a prudent director within the meaning of section 64 sentence 2 of the Limited Liability Companies Act (Gesetz betreffend die Gesellschaften mit beschr\u00e4nkter Haftung), section\u00a092 (2) sentence\u00a02 of the Stock Corporation Act (Aktiengesetz), section 130a (1) sentence 2, also in conjunction with section 177a sentence 1, of the Commercial Code (Handelsgesetzbuch) and section 99 sentence 2 of the Cooperative Societies Act (Genossenschaftsgesetz);<\/p>\n 2.\u00a0\u00a0repayment, up until 30 September 2023, of a new credit which was granted during the period of the suspension and the provision of collateral to secure such a credit during the period of the suspension is deemed not to constitute prejudice to creditors; this also applies to repayment of shareholder loans and payments based on claims resulting from legal acts which are equal, in economic terms, to such loans, but not to their collateralisation; section 39 (1) no. 5 and section 44a of the Insolvency Code do not apply to insolvency proceedings against the debtor\u2019s assets if the request was filed before 30\u00a0September 2023;<\/p>\n 3.\u00a0\u00a0credit granted and collateral provided during the period of the suspension are not deemed to be contributing, contra bonos mores, to the delayed filing of a request for insolvency;<\/p>\n 4.\u00a0\u00a0legal acts which granted or enabled the other party to obtain collateral or satisfaction to which such party was entitled in that manner and at that time may not be avoided in subsequent insolvency proceedings; this does not apply where the other party was aware that the debtor\u2019s efforts to restructure and finance the company were not suited to remedying the insolvency which occurred. This applies accordingly to<\/p>\n a)\u00a0\u00a0payments in lieu of performance or on account of performance;<\/p>\n b)\u00a0\u00a0payments by a third party at the debtor\u2019s instruction;<\/p>\n c)\u00a0\u00a0the furnishing of collateral other than that which was originally agreed if it is not of greater value;<\/p>\n d)\u00a0\u00a0the shortening of the time allowed for payment and<\/p>\n e)\u00a0\u00a0the relaxation of payment terms.<\/p>\n (2) Subsection (1) nos. 2, 3 and 4 also applies to companies which are not obliged to file a request and to debtors which are neither illiquid nor overindebted.<\/p>\n (3) Subsection (1) nos. 2 and 3 applies to credit granted by the Kreditanstalt f\u00fcr Wiederaufbau and its finance partners or by other institutions under government aid programmes launched on account of the COVID-19 pandemic, even when the credit is granted or collateralised after the end of the period of the suspension and without a time limit as to its repayment.<\/p>\n Section 3<\/strong> In the case of requests to open insolvency proceedings which are filed by creditors in the period from 28 March 2020 to 28 June 2020, the opening of insolvency proceedings is conditional upon the reason to open insolvency proceedings having already existed prior to 1\u00a0March 2020.<\/p>\n Section 4<\/strong> The Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection is authorised, by way of statutory instrument not requiring the approval of the Bundesrat, to extend the period of suspension of the obligation to file a request for insolvency under section 1 and the rules concerning the reason to open insolvency proceedings in creditors\u2019 requests for insolvency under section 3 until no later than 31 March 2021 if this appears necessary due to the continuing demand for available public aid, ongoing financing difficulties or other circumstances.<\/p>\n
\nSuspension of the obligation to file a request<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nConsequences of suspension<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nReason to open insolvency proceedings in creditors\u2019 requests for insolvency<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nAuthorisation to issue statutory instruments<\/strong><\/p>\n