The Big Picture - Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code Bill

The government introduced the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Bill, 2019, in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, seeking to restrict the duration of the resolution process and ensure the primacy of financial creditors in case of recoveries. The resolution process is proposed to be limited to 330 days, including time for litigation. The bill seeks to remove ambiguities that had arisen due to an order by the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal on Essar Steel’s insolvency resolution. It is set to help classes of creditors such as homebuyers who are represented on committees of creditors by a single authorised representative. Key clarifications in the bill will put the committee of creditors in control of the distribution of proceeds from a successful resolution plan under the IBC. The amendments clarify that unsecured financial creditors and operational creditors need not be treated on par with secured financial creditors for a resolution to be considered fair and equitable. On this edition of The Big Picture we analyse the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code Amendment Bill, 2019.

Guests:
Subhomoy Bhattacharjee, Consulting Editor, The Business Standard

Aman Agarwal, Director, Indian Institute of Finance

Ashok Kumar Jha, Former Finance Secretary, Government of India

Anchor: Frank Rausan Pereira