27 ASIAN LEGAL BUSINESS CHINA • 亚洲法律杂志-中国版 WWW.LEGALBUSINESSONLINE.COM/CHINA over related cases. They took the view that the ‘Memorandum of Understanding’ and the ‘Pilot Work Opinions’ were established to facilitate Hong Kong’s (provisional) liquidators in fulfilling their duties in Mainland, rather than posing new obstacles.” FUTURE TRENDS Speaking of the topics worth watching in the field of insolvency and restructuring in 2024, Zhou says that “the overhaul of the Company Insolvency Law is expected to make significant progress. The revision will address issues that are prevalent in current judicial practice: the government-court collaboration mechanism on insolvency procedures, tailored insolvency procedures for small and micro enterprises, the pre-restructuring mechanism, substantive consolidated insolvency for associated enterprises, the personal insolvency mechanism, and refined regulations on insolvency of listed companies. Furthermore, the issue of effectively linking and harmonizing the updated Insolvency Law with the newly revised Company Law deserves close attention.” The insolvency of financial institutions is also a topic that cannot be overlooked. Zhou states that “Beginning in 2020, courts throughout the country have heard cases involving the insolvency and liquidation of various financial institutions, such as Baoshang Bank, Liaoyang Rural Commercial Bank, New China Trust, Yian Property Insurance, and Wangxin Securities. It is anticipated that this trend will become increasingly clear in 2024. In addition, restructure and liquidation will become important legal tools in dealing with financial risks caused by private conglomerates.” In terms of debt repayment arrangements and tools, the development of restructuring trusts is particularly noteworthy. Wang mentions that “Restructuring trusts have been widely used. Creditors within the scope of the trust debt repayment arrangement entrust trust companies to operate specific assets and projects of insolvent enterprises, to receive trust benefits according to the creditor’s proportion. This can significantly improve the efficiency of debt repayment arrangements, alleviating the financial challenges faced by insolvent enterprises. However, several issues remain to be addressed, including uncertainty in the repayment rate, inadequate regulatory systems, and limited liquidity for trust beneficial rights.” “We believe that restructuring trusts are only the first step to address the issue, yet require subsequent arrangements to manage, dispose of, and distribute trust assets in order to maximize repayment benefits for creditors,” says Wang. Tang of Zhuojian shows particular interest in the following topics. “The first is the impact of technology on the insolvency industry. Currently, some regions in China have started to implement digital technology in handling insolvency cases. In the foreseeable future, China’s insolvency industry will 过去一年，中国破产重整领域持 续见证“大事记”，跨境破产、房地产企 业破产重整、金融机构破产、以健全的 破产重整机制支持民营经济健康发展 等成为这一年的关键词。 这些关键词深刻反映了当下的经 济发展脉搏。“破产重整业务规模与市 场主体经济发展形势紧密相关。”炜 衡律师事务所合伙人王兆同律师观 察到。他指出，自2014年破产重整案 件逐年增长以来，2022和2023年的 案件数量都再次攀上高峰。 德恒律师事务所也感受到相同的 趋势。德恒合伙人周杰律师指出，过去 三年德恒承办的破产相关业务量显著 增长，与之相伴，相关营收占比、团队 规模也在增长，其中作为管理人办理 的、资产负债规模在10亿元以上的重 大破产案件有12件。“德恒成立了企 业拯救与破产专业委员会，专注于为 困境企业提供拯救与重整一站式法律 服务，现已拥有正式委员150余名，律 师及助理200余名，分布于国内43个 分支机构。”周律师介绍道。 作为律所的核心业务之一，炜衡 在过去两年也见证了破产业务规模、 营收、团队规模的稳定增长。不过王 兆同律师坦言，破产业务的发展也伴 随“隐忧”：“破产业务具备较强的专 业性，贸然接手项目可能会显现专业 能力不足；其次，破产业务需要团队化 协同，缺乏成熟团队承办破产业务，尤 其是管理人业务，也有心无力；再次， 破产业务风险越来越大，如果急于求 成，可能导致不当执业产生赔偿的风 险。鉴于此，炜衡一直求稳、求精，确 保破产业务的质效。” INSOLVENCY “A distinctive aspect of the insolvency and restructuring practice is its level of high industry concentration. Another noteworthy aspect is its contagion effect.” — Wang Zhaotong, W&H Law Firm “破产重整业务的重要特点是 行业集中性，另一个特点就是 其具备传导性。” — 王兆同，炜衡 continue to promote the utilization of digital systems, optimize their efficiency, and conduct comprehensive training to facilitate the integration of technology into the handling of insolvency cases. Second, as globalization deepens, cross-border restructuring cases will become more prevalent, leading to an increase in the complexity of related cases. Additionally, given the growing focus on sustainable development, it is important to allocate more attention towards exploring ways to align environmental governance with restructuring in the insolvency process,” he says.
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