Insolvency Initiative

In a world driven by credit, developing the means to effectively respond to default conditions is essential to foster commercial confidence and predictability.  If properly designed, insolvency and creditor rights laws can contribute to the economic health of countries by providing a safety valve in the event of financial distress, reducing asset deterioration, and restoring balance to commercial relationships.

The World Bank contributes to the stabilization of the global financial architecture in the area of insolvency and creditor rights through an integrated program.  This program includes the promulgation of principles on insolvency and creditor rights, assessment and technical assistance to clients, and capacity building events.

 

The World Bank developed the Principles for Effective Insolvency and Creditor Rights Systems (Principles ) in conjunction with partner organizations, international experts, and the international community.  The Principles represent an international consensus on best practices in insolvency and creditor rights (ICR) and constitute the standard for benchmarking the effectiveness of ICR systems.  In addition, they offer guidance to policymakers who want to establish a functional system for healthy debtor-creditor relations.

As part of the World Bank/IMF Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP), the Reports on the Observance of Standards and Codes (ROSCs) provide a template, based on the World Bank’s Principles, to help countries evaluate their own insolvency and debtor-creditor relations systems. The ROSC assessments on insolvency are conducted by World Bank staff and supported by experts from other institutions. In addition, the World Bank provides technical assistance for countries developing their insolvency and creditor rights systems.

 

A seminal aspect of the Insolvency Initiative is its active engagement in providing parties with capacity building opportunities. The World Bank has hosted, sponsored, and participated in various global and regional forums that have brought together key international experts and relevant regional practitioners. Situated at the heart of this effort, the GILD offers opportunities for training and discussion on the insolvency and creditor rights fields, by providing access to specially designed materials, documents from forums, lectures, symposiums and seminars, and on-line forums.