What you can find out about a debtor from the KRZ
The National Register of Debtors (KRZ) contains information on insolvent entities, those at risk of insolvency and those for which enforcement has been discontinued.
The KRZ was envisioned as a single ICT system that handles all insolvency proceedings and is a registry of publicly accessible data. It posts information about insolvent entities and those at risk of insolvency. It also receives information about sub-entities for which enforcement has been discontinued due to ineffectiveness. So what specific data can be disclosed in the KRZ?
General assumptions about the scope of data disclosed in the KRZ
The legislator has provided for full computerization of bankruptcy and restructuring proceedings. Therefore, in practice, the KRZ is used as an open register (Registry) and information system. It is used to handle bankruptcy and restructuring proceedings. Through the KRZ (functionally understood in the study as a registry and an information and communication system), participants in the proceedings can learn about the documents posted therein. In turn, other entities can derive knowledge about the current status of bankruptcy and restructuring proceedings.
In the Restructuring Law and the Bankruptcy Law, one can find the concepts of notice and posting. Let’s assume that announcement is related to the functioning of the KRZ as a Registry. Posting, on the other hand, is done in the information and communication system that handles bankruptcy and restructuring proceedings.
Basic data placed in the public Register
The Register discloses information about:
- natural persons, legal entities and organizational units that are not legal entities, which are granted legal capacity by the law and against which the following proceedings are or were conducted: a) restructuring, b) bankruptcy or secondary bankruptcy proceedings (including proceedings to declare bankruptcy), c) concluded with a final decision on the prohibition referred to in Article 373(1) of the Bankruptcy Code. (prohibition on conducting business), d) on recognition of a ruling on the initiation of foreign bankruptcy proceedings,
- partners of commercial partnerships who are liable for the company’s obligations without limitation with all of their assets, if the company is declared bankrupt, secondary bankruptcy proceedings are initiated against it, or the bankruptcy petition is dismissed pursuant to Article 13(1) or (2) of the Bankruptcy Code. (dismissal of the application due to so-called poverty of the mass),
- natural persons, legal persons and organizational units that are not legal persons. This applies to persons and entities that are granted legal capacity by law and against whom enforcement proceedings conducted by a court bailiff or a court have been discontinued. It may be discontinued due to the fact that no sum greater than the enforcement costs is obtained from the execution. This also applies to the aforementioned persons and entities against whom enforcement proceedings conducted by the head of the tax office or the director of a branch of the Social Insurance Institution have been discontinued. The reason for such discontinuance is the failure to obtain an amount in excess of the enforcement expenses in the enforcement proceedings,
- Individuals against whom enforcement of alimony payments or enforcement of state budget receivables is pending. This is about receivables and benefits arising from benefits paid in case of ineffective enforcement of alimony. It is also a criterion that individuals are in arrears with these benefits for more than 3 months.
What data about the debtor is disclosed in the KRZ?
The KRZ Act indicates the scope of basic data disclosed in the Register. These are data such as: the name or surname of the debtor (in the case of business activity, also the company), place of residence or registered office and address, PESEL or KRS number, tax identification number (NIP), determination whether the bankrupt is a non-business individual, the name of the court conducting the proceedings, the name and surname of the judge-commissioner and deputy judge-commissioner, and the file reference number of the case.
Interested parties can read from the Register information about the filing of bankruptcy petitions by the debtor and the opening of restructuring proceedings. They can also find there information about the declaration of bankruptcy, the initiation of secondary bankruptcy proceedings, the opening of restructuring proceedings and their type. They will also find data on the opening of arrangement proceedings at the creditors’ meeting and the announcement of the determination of the arrangement day in the arrangement approval proceedings.
In order to ensure that interested creditors have the opportunity to challenge the decision to initiate bankruptcy or restructuring proceedings, the Registry discloses information on the time limit and manner of challenging the previously indicated decisions. If an authorized person makes use of such an opportunity, then a note is made to that effect in the Registry.
Announcements in the KRZ
The essential role of the KRZ comes down to the publication of data that was previously subject to announcement in the MSiG. Pursuant to Article 221(1) of the P.U., in the cases provided for in the Act, the announcement is made in the Register, and when the time limit for filing an appeal runs from the date of the announcement, the announcement is also subject to information on the manner and time limit for its filing (an analogous solution is provided for in Article 199(1) of the P.R.).
In restructuring proceedings, the announcement is subject to, among other things, information about the acceptance of the arrangement by the creditors and the content of the arrangement, the date and place of the hearing set to consider the arrangement, the approval of the arrangement and its content and refusal to approve the arrangement, the opening of proceedings to amend the arrangement or the execution of the arrangement.
In bankruptcy proceedings, on the other hand, from the Register, interested parties will learn, for example, about the date and manner of filing claims, the list of claims and the approval, corrections, additions and amendments to the list of claims, the composition and status of the bankruptcy estate, or the partial and final plan for the distribution of the funds of the bankruptcy estate and the separate plan for the distribution of sums obtained from the sale of encumbered property and rights.
Documents uploaded to the KRZ
As of December 1, 2021, judgments issued in bankruptcy and restructuring proceedings shall be recorded with justifications in the ICT system supporting court proceedings using templates made available in the system and affixed with a qualified electronic signature (Article 219(1a) p.u., Article 197(1a) p.r.). Only participants in the proceedings and persons authorized by them have access to the orders, decrees and documents placed in the system (Article 219(1b) p.u., Article 197(4) p.r.).
Participants in the proceedings, in their own interest, should keep abreast of changes in the ICT system. This is due to the general principle adopted by the legislator that orders relating to the general body of creditors are not served on creditors (Article 220(1) p.r., Article 198(1) p.r.).
Summary
The significant increase in the number of insolvency and restructuring cases has prompted the need for an ICT system that facilitated communication between participants in insolvency proceedings, but at the same time streamlined the procedure for notices previously made in the Monitor Sądowy i Gospodarczy (MSiG). Hence, in order to ensure the full functionality of the NCR, it was decided to have a wide range of documents to be posted and data to be announced in the Register.
This text is an excerpt from a practical commentary prepared by the author for Wolters Kluwer Publishing House. The full version of the commentary is available to users of the LEX system at: https://sip.lex.pl/#/publication/470182675/zakres-ujawnianych-danych-w-krz-zagadnienia-dotyczace-postepowania-restrukturyzacyjnego-i….
