In its January 2011 Meeting, the World Bank’s Task Force on Insolvency and Creditor/Debtor Regimes (inter alia) addressed the issue of „Best Practices in the Insolvency of Natural Persons“ (see Susan Block-Lieb’s Rapporteur’s Synopsis [pdf]).

According to Vijay S. Tata (Chief Counsel, World Bank), „one of the lessons from the recent financial crisis was the recognition of the problem of consumer insolvency as a systemic risk and the consequent need for the modernization of domestic laws and institutions to enable jurisdictions to deal effectively and efficiently with the risks of individual over indebtedness. The importance of these issues to the international financial architecture that has been recognized in various ways by the G-20 and Financial Stability Board has today been reconfirmed and emphasized by this Task Force. It is important to recognize the diversity of policy perspectives, values, cultural preferences and legal traditions that shape the way jurisdictions may choose to deal with the problems of individual over indebtedness. Yet recent events suggest that the expansion of access to finance, the extension of modern modes of financial intermediation, and the mobility and globalization of financial flows may have changed the character and scale of the risk of consumer insolvency in similar ways in many different economies. In response to these concerns, the World Bank, through the Legal Vice Presidency, will organize an appropriate working group of the Insolvency Law Task Force to begin work on identifying the policies and general principles that underlie the diverse legal systems that have evolved for effectively managing the risks of consumer insolvency and individual over indebtedness in the modern context. The World Bank will work with its international partners and use its convening power to bring together a representative group of internationally recognized experts in order to address these important issues.“ (quoted as reported by Block-Lieb, op. cit., para. 17).

The iir is delighted to announce that its Director, Professor Dr. Christoph G. Paulus, LL. M. (Berkeley), has accepted the World Bank’s invitation to join this important and prestigious Working Group.

 

/wz