The Royal Decree-Law 27/2021, of 23rd November, extending some economic measures to support recovery caused by the Covid-19 health crisis establishes an extension of the bankruptcy moratorium and the suspension of the cause of dissolution due to losses.
These measures were already in force since the declaration of the State of Alert in Spain on 14th March 2020 and ended on 31st December 2021. This new extension, the third, intends to mitigate and limit the economic impact of the health crisis on businesses. The Government’s aim is that viable companies under normal market conditions can count on these legal instruments to maintain their activity and employment, with an additional margin to restore equity balance.
What are the consequences of the new moratorium?
Suspension of dissolution because of losses
The exceptional measure to exclude negative results to determine the legal cause of dissolution due to losses is extended. In this context, to determine the net worth to assess whether there is a cause of dissolution (being less than half of the share capital), losses from the financial years 2020 and 2021 shall be disregarded.
Thus, companies with losses in 2020 and 2021 will not count them to calculate whether they are in a situation of cause of dissolution, preventing the obligation of its directors from requesting said dissolution within the legal 2-month timeframe period.
Bankruptcy moratorium
The debtor’s duty to file for insolvency proceedings is suspended until 30th June 2022, even if insolvent.
Likewise, until 30th June 2022, applications for insolvency proceedings filed by creditors or interested third parties will not be admitted for processing.
Therefore, there is a moratorium on insolvency proceedings in favour of companies in a situation of insolvency, for which the two-month legal period to apply for insolvency proceedings will start running on the 1st of July 2022.
Teresa Ramos Garcia
For further information regarding bankruptcy and insolvency proceedings in Spain,
