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Developing Extraordinary Restructuring Solutions in Response to the Global Financial Crisis: An Overview of a Project of the International Insolvency Institute Steven T. Kargman * Foreword In the wake of the global łnancial crisis, it was critical for governments to infuse huge amounts of capital into the łnancial system and directly to łnancial institutions to prevent a global meltdown, but unless similar attention is devoted to the real economy, a recovery is unlikely, and a new surge in bad loans could cause a second capital crisis for łnancial institutions. Extraordinary measures for the real economy are as necessary as extraordinary measures for the łnancial system. It is unlikely that an exit from the current extraordinary support for the łnancial system will be successful unless industrial capacity is adjusted to the decreased and rapidly changing demand for goods and services. The International Insolvency Institute decided to tap the talent of the restructuring experts from throughout the world to oŁer sug- gestions on what extraordinary actions may be available to address the real economy, and that is the genesis of the III Committee on Extraordinary Restructuring Solutions and the project it has un- dertaken, which is described in detail in the following pages. —Richard Gitlin (Chair, III Committee on Extraordinary Re- structuring Solutions) In response to the global łnance crisis, the International * Steven T. Kargman is the Rapporteur of the International Insolvency Institute's Committee on Extraordinary Restructuring Solutions. He is the President of Kargman Associates, an international restructuring advisory łrm based in New York, and formerly served as Lead Attorney of the Export-Import Bank of the U.S. and General Counsel of the New York State Financial Control Board. The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reŃect the views of the International Insolvency Institute, its Committee on Extraordinary Restructuring Solutions, or any of the Commit- tee's individual members. The author acknowledges his debt to the Committee members for their excellent contributions and insights to the work of the Com- mittee. This article is printed with kind permission of International Corporate Rescue and Chase Cambria Company (Publishing) Limited and łrst appeared in Volume 6 issue 5 at www.chasecambria.com. Minor modiłcations have been made by the author. 164

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Page 1: Developing Extraordinary Restructuring Solutions in ...€¦ · als from both developed economies and emerging markets. 1 The Committee is in the process of reviewing innovative approaches

Developing ExtraordinaryRestructuring Solutions in Response tothe Global Financial Crisis: AnOverview of a Project of theInternational Insolvency InstituteSteven T. Kargman*

Foreword

In the wake of the global �nancial crisis, it was critical forgovernments to infuse huge amounts of capital into the �nancialsystem and directly to �nancial institutions to prevent a globalmeltdown, but unless similar attention is devoted to the realeconomy, a recovery is unlikely, and a new surge in bad loanscould cause a second capital crisis for �nancial institutions.Extraordinary measures for the real economy are as necessary asextraordinary measures for the �nancial system. It is unlikelythat an exit from the current extraordinary support for the�nancial system will be successful unless industrial capacity isadjusted to the decreased and rapidly changing demand for goodsand services.

The International Insolvency Institute decided to tap the talent ofthe restructuring experts from throughout the world to o�er sug-gestions on what extraordinary actions may be available to addressthe real economy, and that is the genesis of the III Committee onExtraordinary Restructuring Solutions and the project it has un-dertaken, which is described in detail in the following pages.

—Richard Gitlin (Chair, III Committee on Extraordinary Re-structuring Solutions)

In response to the global �nance crisis, the International

*Steven T. Kargman is the Rapporteur of the International InsolvencyInstitute's Committee on Extraordinary Restructuring Solutions. He is thePresident of Kargman Associates, an international restructuring advisory �rmbased in New York, and formerly served as Lead Attorney of the Export-ImportBank of the U.S. and General Counsel of the New York State Financial ControlBoard. The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and donot necessarily re�ect the views of the International Insolvency Institute, itsCommittee on Extraordinary Restructuring Solutions, or any of the Commit-tee's individual members. The author acknowledges his debt to the Committeemembers for their excellent contributions and insights to the work of the Com-mittee. This article is printed with kind permission of International CorporateRescue and Chase Cambria Company (Publishing) Limited and �rst appearedin Volume 6 issue 5 at www.chasecambria.com. Minor modi�cations have beenmade by the author.

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Insolvency Institute (the III) in Spring 2009 constituted a specialhigh-level committee, the Committee on Extraordinary Restruc-turing Solutions, whose mandate is to develop recommendationsfor addressing issues of �nancial distress arising in the realeconomies of nations. As the Committee's name suggests, thefocus is on developing “extraordinary restructuring solutions,”namely, innovative solutions that go beyond the conventional re-structuring approaches—represented by in-court and out-of-courtrestructurings—to address the unique challenges posed by theglobal �nancial crisis.

The Committee was the inspiration of III Board memberRichard A. Gitlin, who now serves as Committee chair, and iscomprised of distinguished insolvency professionals from Asia,Europe, Latin America, and North America, including individu-als from both developed economies and emerging markets.1 TheCommittee is in the process of reviewing innovative approachesthat so far have been embraced by national governments as ameans of restructuring troubled companies and industries in thereal economy. Furthermore, based on proposals and recommenda-tions from Committee members (several of which are attached asappendices to this article and brie�y discussed below), the Com-mittee also plans to recommend additional extraordinary restruc-turing approaches for consideration by governments. In thisarticle, we will brie�y review some of the issues that the Commit-tee has been considering, but this review of issues is not meant tobe exhaustive nor represent a de�nitive or o�cial statement ofthe Committee's views.

A fundamental premise of the Committee's approach has beenthat conventional restructuring and insolvency approaches mayprove to be inadequate in addressing the impact of the global�nancial crisis on the real economies of nations. The global�nancial and economic crisis has made it much more di�cult toachieve successful restructurings and reorganizations in the realeconomy. Speci�cally, the lack of liquidity hampers the ability ofparties to �nance restructurings and reorganizations. Further-more, depending on the particular national economies at issue,depressed global economic activity and the lack of liquidity andtimely restructurings could potentially lead to widespreadcorporate distress or the existence of overcapacity in certain eco-nomic sectors.

Such corporate distress or failure may have the potential,

1The Committee consists of the following individuals: Richard A. Gitlin,

Chair (U.S.); Donald Bernstein (U.S.); Thomas Felsberg (Brazil); Lucio Ghia (It-aly); Stephen Gray (U.S.); Steven T. Kargman, Rapporteur (U.S.); BruceLeonard, III Chair (ex o�cio) (Canada); Dr. Luis Manuel C. Mejan (Mexico):Professor Christoph Paulus (Germany); George Seligman (U.K.); and Dr.Shinjiro Takagi (Japan).

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particularly in less-advanced economies with less well-developedinsolvency systems, to overwhelm existing restructuring/insolvency institutions and processes. Economic distress may beparticularly acute in certain emerging markets that do not havewell-developed restructuring institutions and supporting legalframeworks. Certain regions a�ected by the crisis (e.g., Centraland Eastern Europe) may not have recent experience dealingwith restructurings in response to �nancial and economic crises.Moreover, there may be a serious dearth of local restructuringand turnaround expertise and experience in certain a�ectedeconomies.

Fundamentally, the Committee believes that it is criticallyimportant that governments address these restructuring issuesrelated to the real economy, particularly as much of the initial ef-forts by governments since the onset of the crisis have focused onrepairing �nancial systems. The Committee also believes that ifthese issues in the real economy are not addressed properly andin a timely manner, there could be further serious stress placedon the global �nancial system.

Despite whatever improvements have taken place in the global�nancial system since governments began to address the seriousbreakdown in the �nancial system in fall 2008, there still remainsthe possibility of knock-on e�ects to the �nancial system fromwidespread �nancial distress or overcapacity in the real economy.For example, it has been widely reported in the �nancial pressthat banks in Western Europe may face further �nancial di�cul-ties arising from their signi�cant exposures in Central andEastern Europe, especially in light of the level of �nancial distressand nonperforming loans that exist now or may ultimatelydevelop in Central and Eastern Europe. Therefore, even thoughthere may be some glimmers of improvement in the state of theglobal �nancial system and the global economy, there could none-theless be a new round of serious pressures placed on the�nancial system if �nancial distress in the real economy is notadequately addressed.

Unfortunately, there is a tendency on the part of both banksand borrowers to delay addressing these realities. Both lendersand borrowers facing unsustainable debt burdens within a�ectedeconomies do not necessarily have a clear incentive to addressthese issues in a timely manner. Instead, they may prefer to“wait out” the crisis in the hopes of rising asset prices andrecovering demand. Yet, despite such a reaction from individuallenders and borrowers, it may not be desirable from a macroeco-nomic standpoint for national economies not to address these is-sues in a timely manner.

Thus government action in individual countries may be neces-sary to address this market failure and jump-start restructuring

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processes in their respective economies. The Committee hasadvocated the need for “extraordinary restructuring solutions” to�ll the gap. This involves bringing to bear a broad array of re-structuring resources, such as necessary �nancial resources andrestructuring expertise, in a coordinated, timely, and e�cientmanner. It also involves supplementing existing restructuringprocesses and institutions or instituting such processes wherethey are not already present. Furthermore, it entails dealing inan expeditious manner with the possibility of widespreadcorporate distress or excess capacity in certain economic sectorswhere there is a misalignment of supply and demand.

The Committee has identi�ed four core elements that couldunderlie a program consisting of extraordinary restructuringsolutions. First, governments might consider creating some typeof quasi-governmental institutional framework for coordinatingrestructuring expertise, restructuring capital, and expedited re-structuring procedures. The Committee recognizes potentialpitfalls that must be avoided, namely government bureaucracyand the potential for corruption, which may be salient concernsin some of the countries a�ected by the global �nancial crisis.

Second, governments, acting on their own or in cooperationwith international organizations, might assist in providing asolution for the critical need for interim or bridge �nancing forrestructuring solutions. This could entail developing a mecha-nism for providing such �nancing on a broad basis to deal withpotential economy-wide or sector-wide situations of �nancialdistress or overcapacity. Such government �nancing may be nec-essary because private sector lenders by themselves may not bein a position to provide �nancing on the scale that is required. Atthe same time, governments will need to take into account therole that the private sector can play in providing the necessaryinterim or bridge �nancing.

Third, governments might prepare themselves to apply profes-sional restructuring and turnaround expertise on a large scale tothe extent necessary. Drawing on expertise in the private sector,governments could be prepared to deploy experienced profession-als, whether such professionals are domestic or foreign, who pos-sess the necessary expertise to handle restructuring situations,especially restructurings arising in the context of a �nancial oreconomic crisis. However, governments need to recognize that, incertain circumstances, there could be gaps in local restructuringand turnaround expertise, and there may therefore be a need tobring in foreign experts to �ll in whatever gaps exist in localexpertise and experience.

Fourth, governments may wish to emphasize the criticalimportance of having distressed borrowers utilize expedited re-structuring procedures. This may involve utilizing prepackaged

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reorganizations or expedited out-of-court restructurings, and incertain cases, new laws or amendments to existing laws mayneed to be put in place to achieve these goals. This focus onexpedited restructuring procedures recognizes that normal re-structuring and insolvency procedures may not move quicklyenough to address situations of widespread �nancial distress orovercapacity in certain economic sectors.

Overall, governments must focus on addressing two overridingobjectives. In the �rst place, they need to ensure that viablecompanies and industries are �xed—i.e., facilitate restructuringsand reorganizations. Second, they also need to ensure that theassets of nonviable companies and industries are recycled—i.e.,facilitate liquidations where appropriate.

Governments could further these objectives by taking a numberof steps. They could assist in providing critical interim or bridge�nancing, they could help expedite restructuring of viablecompanies and industries, and they could help expedite liquida-tion of nonviable companies and industries (i.e., recycle assets).Moreover, they could condition capital solutions for their banks,such as capital infusions to troubled �nancial institutions, on thecooperation of banks in facilitating restructuring solutions.Speci�cally, banks could be encouraged to deal head-on withcorporate distress and nonperforming loans among their borrow-ers rather than trying to postpone the resolution of theseproblems.

The Committee's current approach is to consider recommend-ing a menu of possible options for governments to consider—i.e.,not a “one size �ts all” approach. The speci�c options that thegovernment in a particular country selects may depend on anumber of country-speci�c factors. Such factors might include thefollowing: the capability of government institutions and the expe-rience of such institutions in dealing with restructuring-relatedissues; the level of con�dence of the public in government institu-tions; and the lack of bureaucracy and corruption in governmentinstitutions. Other factors might include the desired balance be-tween the respective roles of government and the private sector;the level of development and the e�cacy of restructuring lawsand procedures; and the experience in the society, its courts, andamong its insolvency and restructuring professionals in restruc-turing viable companies.

In deciding upon possible alternative modalities for providingrestructuring assistance, governments may wish to address sev-eral issues such as the following: Is it necessary to establish anew government entity to serve as a coordinating body for thebroad array of restructuring resources or can existing institu-tions serve this purpose? Who should provide critical interim orbridge �nancing to address restructuring situations—national

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governments, multilateral development banks, regional develop-ment banks, commercial lenders, private investors, or somecombination of these parties?

How can governments catalyze action by lenders to enter intorestructuring negotiations with borrowers? Can governments fa-cilitate the restructuring of companies by facilitating thepurchase of nonperforming assets whether through so-called as-set management companies or through other mechanisms? Howcan governments develop more e�ective legal frameworks forfacilitating reorganization of viable enterprises, especially withrespect to encouraging expedited restructurings?

As noted above, the Committee is currently in the process ofconsidering the merits of innovative restructuring approaches be-ing taken by various governments around the world in the cur-rent crisis. The Committee is also considering whether therehave been constructive approaches that were adopted by govern-ments and other key stakeholders in previous �nancial and eco-nomic crises that may be applicable or useful in addressing thecurrent crisis.

In addition, several Committee members have developed newproposals to address the impact of the �nancial crisis on the realeconomy. Three of these proposals o�ered by Committee membersare attached as appendices to this article. Dr. Shinjiro Takagihas put forth a proposal to establish a new quasi-governmentalvehicle based on the model of the Industrial RevitalizationCorporation of Japan that was established by the Japanesegovernment in 2003. Stephen Gray2 and his colleague MarkoMitrovic3 have put forth a proposal to establish a regional “re-structuring �nance agency” to deal with the problems arising inCentral and Eastern Europe. Dr. Luis Manuel C. Mejan4 and twoof his colleagues, Emilio Sanchez Santiago and Dioniso Ramos,have o�ered a proposal for Mexico that calls for the creation of anew restructuring body to encourage out-of-court restructurings,with fresh capital for restructurings to be provided by amultisourced fund.

In the coming months, the Committee will continue to workthrough the issues discussed in this article with the goal ofdeveloping a �nal set of recommendations. Whatever the speci�cdetails and contours of any �nal recommendations that the Com-mittee develops, the Committee will strive to develop recom-mendations that have practical value for governments and

2Mr. Gray is Senior Managing Partner for CRG Partners.

3Mr. Mitrovic is Managing Director for CRG Partners.

4Dr. Mejan is Director General of Instituto Federal de Especialistas de

Concursos Mercantiles. Mr. Santiago and Mr. Ramos are both insolvency profes-sionals.

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provide governments with useful restructuring options for ad-dressing �nancial distress in the real economy in a timely and ef-fective manner.

Appendix 1. A Restructuring Concept for Central andEastern Europe

By Stephen Gray and Marko Mitrovic

May 2009

The RegionAlthough Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) is still viewed as

a single region, substantial di�erences exist among its sub-regions, including European Union (EU) members, CentralEuropean non-EU members and the CIS countries.

Ten Central European countries have achieved EU member-ship status, with four of them (Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia,and Slovenia) characterized as having established broad-basedeconomies and more highly evolved legal systems. While the�nancial crisis has a�ected these countries as well, its impact isexpected to be less. The Baltic States (Lithuania, Latvia, andEstonia) and Hungary, however, are countries with smaller pro-duction base, signi�cant over-leverage and/or lack of reformimplementation (e.g. tax, pension, legal etc.) Finally, the mostrecent EU members (Romania and Bulgaria) are considerablyless developed economically, politically and legally. Second sub-region consists of the former Yugoslavia (excluding Slovenia) andAlbania. While there are di�erences within this group as well,these are all still structurally weak economies at a fairly lowstage of development.

The sub-region with the largest geography and population, theCIS countries, include commodity-based economies like Russiaand Kazakhstan, undeveloped and/or dysfunctional countries likeUkraine or Moldova, and politically unacceptable countries likeBelarus or Turkmenistan.

The one common theme throughout the CEE region is that re-structuring (operational and �nancial) is typically avoided. Giventhe relatively recent emergence of most of the countries in theregion from socialism, the region has not matured to the pointwhere governmental actions have been e�ective in dealing withenterprise level distress. Political purposes, cronyism, andoutright corruption have typically prevented meaningful restruc-turing and will hinder the recovery from the current crisis.

Speci�cs of the Crisis in the RegionThe global �nancial and economic crisis has a�ected the region

severely as the countries saw huge declines in external demand.For many Central European countries, export represents over70% of GDP, while in CIS, the decline in commodity prices has

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had an additional negative impact on several countries' GDPsand �nances. Moreover, credit in the region, especially Centraland Southeast Europe, has been dominated by Western Europeanbanks (Austrian, German, Italian, and Scandinavian), and a largepercentage of both corporate and consumer debt is denominatedin Euros or other foreign currencies. The collapse of local curren-cies combined with a decline in asset values, especially regionalstock markets and real estate, has resulted in lower earnings toservice foreign debt, further exacerbating the crisis. As foreignbanks moved to protect domestic balance sheets and repatriatecapital, a liquidity freeze has resulted in the region. Virtually allforeign direct investment (FDI) has come to a halt. This has leftenterprises throughout the CEE region stranded with a mountainof debt, no liquidity, and unfunded operating losses.

Governmental Reaction to DateMost regional governments have had few monetary or �scal

tools to try to reinvigorate their economies, and there have beenmore urgent issues that they have had to confront. Several localcurrencies were on the verge of a meltdown, including those inRussia, Hungary, and the Baltic states. The Russian CentralBank spent a third of its foreign currency reserves stabilizing theruble. The Hungarian Central Bank was forced initially toincrease interest rates to prevent massive out�ow. Second, aslending ceased and rumors spread that Western banks could bepulling out of the region, preventing a run on the banks alsobecame a priority. All regional governments at least doubled theamounts guaranteed by the state. Several countries, includingthe Baltic States, Hungary, Ukraine, Serbia, and Romania havereceived funds from IMF, EU, and/or the European InvestmentBank. Funding to-date has been primarily focused on easing theliquidity crisis

What Is NeededAs a result, the corporate sector is clearly struggling, and

enterprise level governmental assistance has taken a back seat tothe resolution of the monetary and banking crisis. There is ampleevidence that even many good companies in the region areexperiencing di�culties in extending �nancing and rolling overlines of credit and are becoming illiquid. The most pressing needis for additional capital and the restructuring expertise to deployit productively. Excluding fairly short-term problems in the late1990s, the region has not experienced an economic crisis sincethe collapse of socialism, and the region has been growing annu-ally at 5% to 10% for the past decade. As a consequence, the re-structuring expertise is still quite underdeveloped. There are fewlocal turnaround �rms, and bank workout departments aresubstantially understa�ed, inexperienced, or nonexistent.

While most countries in the region have passed fairly good

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bankruptcy legislation, often modeled on the U.S. BankruptcyCode, its application has been very limited. Substantial e�ort isneeded to develop the infrastructure to implement existing bank-ruptcy, collateral, creditors' rights, and other related laws thatcurrently exist but are rarely used.

Proposal for the CEE RegionThe issues above are interlinked and thus should be dealt with

in a comprehensive manner. We propose that a pool of restruc-turing capital be created, with the funds initially coming frommultinationals such as EBRD, IFC, IMF, the World Bank, andthe European Investment Bank. To the degree possible, the fundscould be matched by local governments. As the program becomesestablished, commercial investors could participate through thesale of credit-enhanced o�erings. This capital would be deployedthrough a newly created Regional Restructuring Finance Agency.The Restructuring Agency would have the dual role of providingcredit and deploying restructuring expertise. Local capacity build-ing and ROI strategy and criteria development are also importantobjectives to create a successful and lasting impact. Givensubregional di�erences (discussed above), the strategies shouldbe adapted to at least three subregions: the EU members, non-EUCE countries, and the CIS.

The capital would be invested in three types of situations. First,working capital for otherwise good companies would function as abridge until the liquidity environment is normalized. Second, itwould be invested as restructuring capital contingent on fund-approved turnaround plans. Finally, the capital could be used torationalize “bubble” debt and equity investments primarily madebetween 2005 and 2007. New capital would be invested as debt,possibly ahead of existing senior positions. Investment would bebased on meaningful operational and �nancial restructuringstrategies, and returns would be enhanced with PIK interest orwarrants to compensate for risk. The program would be volun-tary and focused on small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).Large corporations would be eligible as well, provided that theyare independent from political interests and can be competitive ifproperly restructured. Key criteria would be that the companieshave a viable core business, modern management, and an abilityto increase internal demand in local markets.

An alternative “entry” mode could be through nonperformingloans (NPL). By purchasing NPLs, the Restructuring Agencywould provide liquidity to local and foreign banks and bring re-structuring discipline and expertise to deal more e�ectively withdebtor companies. With the Restructuring Agency in control ofthe debt, it can restructure for its own account.

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Appendix 2. Restructuring and Funding MechanismProposal (A Proposal to Create a Deliberate Response to

the Mexican Economic Crisis)By Dr. Luis Manuel C. Mejan

August 2, 2009

Mexico CityThe purpose of this proposal is to o�er an “ad-hoc” response to

the devastating e�ects the economic crisis has had on the Mexicaneconomy since 2008 and to address the overwhelming concern ithas instilled in the nation's organized industrial sector.

Mexico has undergone various economic crises in which thecountry's secondary sector, in particular the industrial sector,has faced a highly leveraged position and consequently, a high“debt-service level.” Prime examples of these crises include thedevaluations of the Mexican peso under President Luis Echever-ria in 1976, President Miguel de la Madrid in 1985, and Presi-dent Ernesto Zedillo in 1995 (also known as “December'smistake”).

During these particular instances, the Mexican governmentemployed di�erent tools and tactics in its e�orts to diminish thepernicious e�ects caused by these recessions, marked by longbouts of unemployment and nationwide impoverishment. Whatcharacterized these e�orts was the government's focus on holdingunemployment at bay and on the containment of the industrialinfrastructure's erosion. The government also took diversemacroeconomic measures, such as i) stimulating public spending;ii) providing credit support; iii) providing �scal stimulus; and iv)relaxing monetary and lending policies.

Besides the above-mentioned tools, the federal government hasresorted to extraordinary mechanisms created ad-hoc in order tosolve speci�c aspects of the crisis. Among those mechanisms thefollowing can be considered outstanding: (i) the FICORCAprogram; (ii) the FOBAPROA program; (iii) the �nancial supportprograms to debtors (ADE and Punto Final (Final Period)); and(iv) the program called UCABE (Coordination Unit of theBanking-Entrepreneurial Deal).

i) FICORCA was a program designed to eliminate the foreignexchange risk that assailed the business sector from 1982–1985. A great gamut of companies within the business sec-tor participated in this program, making it a great success.

ii) FOBABROA originated from a small �nancial trust, whichwas managed by the Central Bank of Mexico (Banco deMexico) that aimed at protecting bank deposits. However,as a consequence of the economic crisis (1995's “December'smistake”), the banking authorities decided to utilize thefund to purchase delinquent loans and other assets that

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formed part of the national banking system. Eventually,FOBAPROA became the legal vehicle through whichMexico's banking rescue e�orts took place.

iii) ADE and Punto Final were tools specially addressed tonatural-person debtors in the mortgage and credit card ar-eas; however, such programs also included chapters ad-dressed to some enterprises.

iv) UCABE was the result of a collaborative e�ort betweenthe Business Council (Consejo Coordinador Empresarial)and the federal government. This took shape in the formof a body headed by Eduardo Bours. This entity was maderesponsible for restructuring debt for a select group ofMexican companies (27 in total) on an extrajudicial levelin conjunction with the banking sector.

A repetitive problem that has arisen throughout these kinds ofcrises is the industrial sector's di�culty in paying o� banking orcommercial paper debts. Consequently, many industrial compa-nies �nd themselves facing a substantially high insolvency risk.

Under normal conditions, Mexican businesses use di�erentways to cope with these situations: i) they withhold pro�ts andutilize them to reduce their debt; ii) they issue new shares inexchange for fresh capital; and iii) they re�nance their debtthrough new bank loans or through new shares sold to the invest-ment community through the Mexican Stock Exchange.

However, presently, none of these tools have been e�ective inallowing Mexican businesses to reduce their debt. The reasonsfor this are clear: i) companies are su�ering large �nancial lossesor are generating insu�cient pro�ts, making it impossible forthem to reduce their debt at the necessary speed; ii) the MexicanStock Exchange is currently unable to raise enough new capitalin the large quantities needed; iii) national and foreign investorsare more risk-averse and are showing a marked preference forgovernment bonds; and �nally iv) the world of banking at large isfacing the same crisis, which has put some of the most recognizedAmerican and European banks to the brink of insolvency.

Given these conditions, it is evident that the recession we areundergoing is going to be of considerable length and that the ef-fects that the current situations are having on the economy mayworsen unless the Mexican federal government and the businesssector take drastic measures and act swiftly in order to de�ectthese probable outcomes.

When dealing with an economic crisis of this nature, govern-ments have two obvious choices. The �rst one is to act passively,in hopes that a failing economy recuperates relatively quickly.The second one is to act deliberately to counterattack the mostdamaging aspects of an economic crisis by creating mechanismsand “ad-hoc” organizations for this purpose.

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During the last 30 years or so, the Mexican government hasgenerally responded to �nancial crises in a deliberate fashion.The current economic dilemma has elicited a somewhat similarresponse. Our government has increased public spending andresorted to countercyclical policies. According to the Ministry ofFinance, it has earmarked more than 817,000 million pesos tothis end.

However, in spite of these measures, there is an increasingconcern amongst business owners and industrial companies withrespect to: (a) their existing bank loans and their publicly-tradeddebt paper, and (b) their capacity to pay o� their debts. Somehighly visible and substantial insolvency cases have already pre-sented themselves in which notable publicly held companies havedefaulted on payments. There have also been countless instancesof corporate insolvency that have been less-publicized.

It is understandable that the Mexican industrial sector ishighly concerned by the di�culty that businesses are showing inful�lling their contractual debt obligations. As long as the reces-sion continues to batter production, and revenue continue to fall,the risk of default that companies now face will keep on rising.The loss of revenue experienced by the industrial sector isexempli�ed by the decreasing volume of exports. In the �rst �vemonths of 2009, Mexico registered a 32.8% drop, compared to2008's exports. Another strong indicator of revenue-loss can beobserved through federal tax collections. According to the federalgovernment, it registered a 17.4% loss in real tax revenue (i.e.,revenue in constant pesos) during the �rst �ve months of thisyear.

Business owners are also worried about the typical terms ofmost loan agreements. When it becomes evident to a businessthat they cannot keep up with their payments as originally stipu-lated in their loan agreements, they soon �nd themselves in aweak position to bargain with their creditors, which onlycompounds the �nancial crisis and a sense of inequity.

It is necessary to recognize that the Insolvency Procedures Law(enacted in 2000) o�ers a useful instrument to enterprises af-fected by liquidity problems that enables them to achieve arestructure through orderly agreements which are carried out bya Conciliator appointed by the Mexican Federal Institute ofInsolvency Practitioners (Instituto Federal de Especialistas deConcursos Mercantiles) and approved by the judicial authority.Otherwise, should a certain enterprise has lost its viability, saidlaw is an instrument that helps to maximize, to the extent pos-sible, the enterprise's social value during the bankruptcy stage.

Even though both the Insolvency Procedures Law and theMexican Federal Institute of Insolvency Practitioners o�er solu-tions, the current �nancial trouble is so big that it deserves such

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mechanisms to be strengthened with others of extraordinarynature.

If we examine the terms of typical loan agreements in Mexico,it is clear that debtors are severely penalized and are put at anegotiating disadvantage at the time of default. To begin with,penalty interest rates are applied immediately. These rates tendto be two-to-three times greater than the interest rates that areapplied under normal conditions. Secondly, under Mexican law,the violation of the contract on the part of the debtor gives thecreditor the right to call the loan and to demand full payment.Thirdly, Mexican law gives creditors the right to execute theirguarantees as soon as there is a default. Debtors who �ndthemselves in this precarious position have a weak bargainingposition and are often forced to accept new terms and conditionsthat may be detrimental to them and that can even lead to bank-ruptcy and the loss of countless jobs.

One should note that, of course, not all creditors resolve thingsin this manner. They are some sophisticated creditors, experts inthe �nancial restructuring of a company, who pursue agreementsthat aim to help both parties involved.

Given the scope and depth of the �nancial crisis that has hitour nation, organized business owners are appealing to thefederal government as well as to the banking and investmentcommunity to take necessary and su�cient measures to protectemployment and the industrial sector.

To achieve this, the organized business sector proposes the cre-ation of an ad-hoc organization that would have as its mission:the extrajudicial voluntary restructuring of debt betweencompanies and banks or between companies and stock marketinvestors. This entity's goal would be to provide timely solutionsto the debt problem and to facilitate the restructuring of debtagreements between creditors and debtors. The purpose of thisentity would also be to promote the recognition of the new agree-ments before the judicial system.

The framework for this restructuring body would include: i) acorporate governance comprised of the business sector, theMinistry of Finance, and creditors' representatives; and ii) a sta�comprised of experts in �nancial restructuring whose credentialsdemonstrate the desired level of expertise. (These experts mustnot have con�icts of interest with the creditors with whom theywill be involved).

This body would serve as a professional, reliable forum forcompanies who voluntarily wish to engage in the extrajudicial re-structuring of their liabilities. We recommend that the entityhave a lifespan of no greater than three years.

The Ministry of Finance could also consider granting, throughdecrees, �scal and federal income tax incentives for all agree-

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ments that result from the use of this forum, such as: a) reduc-tion of tax liabilities, b) not taxing as taxable income the loanwrite-downs accepted by creditors, and c) not taxing as taxableincome the agreed-upon debt-equity swaps.

The Ministry of Finance could also establish a “window of op-portunity” for creditors and debtors to join this forum. This meansthat the aforementioned �scal and tax incentives would only beavailable to companies that join the forum by a certain deadline.This time constraint would most likely accelerate the voluntaryenlistment of debtors and creditors to this debt-restructuringbody. Those who join the forum after the deadline would lose ac-cess to those bene�ts.

This restructuring body's activity would utilize the rules of�nancial arbitration. All those who join the forum would besubject to these rules. Thus participating in this forum wouldrequire voluntary consent. In addition to this, all parties wouldhave to comply with the �nal decisions resulting from arbitration.

It is important to note that Mexico's past experiences with�nancial restructuring of this nature have always indicated anunequivocal need for fresh capital as part of the solution. Thiscapital plays a central role in containing unemployment andpreserving the industrial infrastructure. History has also shownthat in order to restructure debtor's liabilities and capital, acertain amount of fresh capital is needed. As aforementioned, therole that fresh capital holds is indispensable if jobs and busi-nesses are to be saved. Fresh capital can be injected into the re-structuring company through an increase of capital, new loans,or the re�nancing of pre-existing liabilities. It should be under-scored that during the restructuring process, a new “valuation” ofthe assets would be applied to the company in question. That isto say, that they would be valued with the use of “restructuringcurrency,” as it is referred to in the industry.

In many restructuring cases, the creditors accept a reductionin payments owed while shareholders accept a reduction in thevalue of their shares, that is to say, a lesser stake in the companyas a result of an increase in capital, or a “dilution” of ownershipas result of the conversion of debt into stocks. Those wishing tocontribute “fresh capital” would be encouraged to do so after: i)writing down the value of debt and pre-existing equity, and ii)having ascertained, to the maximum extent possible, the eco-nomic and �nancial viability of the restructuring plan. In otherwords, those bringing in fresh capital would not be subject to theprices that were in place before the restructuring began; instead,they would work with “discounted” prices that would result fromrenegotiations between the creditors and debtors.

To reiterate, in order for this entity to be a successful toolthrough which jobs and industrial infrastructure may be

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protected, fresh capital must be brought into the picture. If not,while this may prove to be an interesting forum, it will be insuf-�cient in resolving the �nancial problems that are a�ecting somany industrial companies. To bring all the aforementioned ideasto fruition, it will be necessary for the government to create a“fund” that will back the proposed restructuring body.

Fresh capital will be used to: i) provide fresh equity tocompanies that show a need for it and that can demonstrate theyare �nancially viable; ii) re�nance loans or publicly traded debtsecurities if debtors can demonstrate that they have a legitimateneed for re�nancing and can prove that they are viable; iii)guarantee the partial or complete payment of debt or the creationof an agreement between debtors and creditors, if it is justi�able;iv) concede new loans to certain companies, if they can show thatthe loan will permit them to regain their viability and thus en-able them to engage in the repayment of their debt.

Under the present circumstances, the only possible, practical,and viable form to bring su�cient fresh capital into the restruc-turing process at a national level is a deliberate action by theMexican government. Only the government has today the powerto mobilize capital in the amount and timing needed to protectthe industrial sector and the millions of jobs that depend from it.The organized industrial sector of Mexico proposes that theMexican government create a new fully dedicated “Capital Fund”that utilizes both debt and equity capital.

For the proposed changes to take place, it is crucial that a si-multaneous e�ort be made between the restructuring body andthe aforementioned fund. A well-coordinated e�ort will improvethe possibility of saving the largest possible number of companiesfacing insolvency and preserving and protecting the largest pos-sible number of jobs within Mexico.

The following institutions should be considered as possiblecapital contributors to the “fund”:

i) Banco de Mexico (the Central Bank of Mexico): It coulduse a fraction of its international reserves.

ii) Nacional Financiera (Mexico's largest development bank):It could use a fraction of its �nancial resources to createguarantees for companies that demonstrate that they areviable and that they are in need of such aid.

iii) State governments: Those interested in protectingcompanies that are located within their territories couldcontribute.

iv) World Bank: It could lend support through the IFC.v) U.S. Federal Reserve: It could provide �nancial resources

through a speci�c line of credit.vi) IMF: Funds could be taken from the recent line of credit

that it established with Mexico and be assigned to thefund.

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vii) Inter-American Development Bank: It could lend supportthrough its International Investment Corporation.

viii) Mexican Federal Government: It could assign a portionof the 2010 national budget.

ix) The National Association of Banks has stated that bankscould use some of their liquidity to assist the program.

Contributions made by the IFC, the World Bank, the Interna-tional Investment Corporation, and the Inter-American Develop-ment Bank would be “risk capital” and would not be guaranteedby the Mexican federal government, nor would they augmentMexico's external debt.

In closing, it should be noted that the lifespan of the restruc-turing body (three years), as well as the Fund (seven years),would be predetermined, following the example of the so-called“sunset provisions” of the U.S. Resolution Trust Corporation.

The assets accumulated by the fund would be sold at marketvalue during the last years of its existence, and the earningswould be given to those responsible for providing the fund withcapital.

Once again, the fund that we propose be created is one madeup of multilateral mixed capital and is linked to a restructuringbody jointly sponsored by the industrial sector and the federalgovernment. It is conceivable that this fund go public throughthe Mexican stock market within three years of its creation.

Additionally, it is possible to ask for some regulatory facilities,easing some restrictions currently existing from the minister of�nance in terms of taxes and requirements to �nancial institu-tions' operation.

Appendix 3. Quasi-Governmental Special Purpose Vehi-cle to Restructure Ailing Business Corporations in

Extraordinary Times—Proposal based on Japan's Experi-ences5

By Dr. Shinjiro Takagi6

The downturn of real economy might have hit its bottom, butwe still have some fear about sinking double-dip recession. Many

5This article is printed with kind permission of International Corporate

Rescue and Chase Cambria Company (Publishing) Limited and �rst appearedin Volume 6 issue 6 at www.chasecambria.com. Minor modi�cations have beenmade by the author.

6Dr. Shinjiro Takagi is an advisor of Nomura Securities Co., Ltd. since

2007 and was admitted to the Japanese bar in 1963. After being in privatepractice for 25 years, he moved to the bench as the Judge of Tokyo DistrictCourt, the President & Chief Judge of Niigata and Yamagata District Court,and the Judge of Tokyo High Court (Court of Appeal) until he retired the judge-ship in 2000. After resuming private practice, he successfully reorganized a lotof big corporations. He was Professor of law of Dokkyo University from 2000 to

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business corporations may have to resolve excess-capacityproblems to match reduced consumer demands. Under declininggross-sales conditions, some parts of existing debts owed by manybusiness corporations may become excessive. Without revitalizingthese business corporations by means of debt restructuring, an-other economic crisis may recur.

Insolvency Law Reforms and Expedited Practice in JapanSigni�cant changes in reorganization occurred in Japan be-

tween late 1990s and early 2000s. The Civil Rehabilitation Lawwas enacted in 1999 to replace the previous Composition Law of1922. This was followed by series of changes in bankruptcy-related laws, such as (1) the enactment of the new Law for Rec-ognition and Assistance for Foreign Insolvency Proceedingsadopting UNCITRAL Model law in 2000; (2) the enactment of thenew Corporate Reorganization Law (CRL) in 2002, replacingprevious CRL of 1952; (3) the enactment of the new BankruptcyLaw (BL) in 2004, replacing previous BL of 1922; and (4) theenactment of the new Company Law, which includes many newtools to facilitate reorganization of healthy and distressed busi-ness corporations in 2005. The new Company Law also revisedprovisions regarding the Special Liquidation Proceeding. Chapter4 of the Revised Act on Special Measures for Industrial Revital-ization (RASMIR) of 2007 enabled to establish the Business Re-organization ADR mentioned below.

Along with the above legal reforms, the Japanese courts haveopened their gates wide to rehabilitation and reorganization casesthat are being handled more speedily. The handling of bank-ruptcy cases has been sped up. In civil rehabilitation cases in To-kyo, a plan will be generally con�rmed by the court about sixmonths after the �ling of a petition to open the case. In corporatereorganization cases, which are generally larger in size than thecivil rehabilitation cases, a plan will be generally con�rmedwithin one year after the commencement of the case.

In the past 10 years, a lot of private equity funds who targetdistressed companies were created and advisory/consulting/turnaround �rms specialized in rehabilitating distressed busi-nesses became widespread in Japan.

2003 and Professor of Chuo University Law School from 2003 to 2006. Hereceived his Doctor of Law (PhD) degree in 2002.

He was the Chair of the Committee for Guidelines of Multi-Creditors Outof Court Workout established by the National Bankers' Association, etc. in2001, and also the Chairpersons of other two committees organized by Ministryof Economy, Trade and Industry from 2001 to 2003, i.e., the Advisory Commit-tee regarding Law Reformations including Corporate Reorganization Law andthe Drafting Committee of Guidelines for early business revitalization. He wasthe Chair of Industrial Revitalization Corporation of Japan from 2003 to 2007.He has written numerous books and articles regarding Japanese and foreigninsolvency and other related matters.

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The Industrial Revitalization Corporation of Japan(IRCJ)

The IRCJ was created in May 2003 by the Japanese Govern-ment to dispose of nonperforming and poorly performing loans aswell as to revitalize ailing companies with excessive debts toovercome a prolonged recession that lasted over 10 years. TheIRCJ rescued 41 enterprise groups consisting of nearly 200companies by March 2005 and dissolved itself in March 2007, oneyear earlier than was scheduled.

Upon receiving an application made by a company and its mainbank holding the biggest exposure to the debtor company, theIRCJ conducted due diligence and developed operational and�nancial restructuring plans. Then, the IRCJ proposed to buydebts owed to �nancial institutions or requested to accept thedebt restructuring plan by means of partial debts forgivenessand/or debt equity swaps as stipulated by the proposed plan. Af-ter the solicitation made by the IRCJ, most �nancial creditors ei-ther sold their debts to the IRCJ or accepted the plan. Outstand-ing stocks were wiped out or diluted in most cases, and the IRCJinfused new equity into the company. The IRCJ sent hands-onturnaround managers, replacing incumbent managers, to operatethe debtors' business.

Within one or two years since the opening of each case, theIRCJ sold the purchased debts and/or equities to new owners bymeans of M&A. The IRCJ was �nanced by the governmentguarantee and successfully closed its business with pro�t.

Newly Started Business Reorganization AlternativeDispute Resolution (BRADR)

The Guidelines of the Out-of-Court Workout were establishedin 2001 in Japan referring to the London Approach and INSOL 8Principles by the Committee, organized by the National Bankers'Association and others for which I served as a chair. More than40 large corporations were reorganized using the Guidelines. TheBusiness Reorganization ADR was created by Japanese Associa-tion of Turnaround Professionals (JATP) last November with theapprovals of Minister of Economy, Industry and Trade, andMinistry of Justice based on the aforementioned RASMIR.Turnaround experts, who were appointed in each case by theselection committee of JATP that is chaired by me, preside overthe workout using fair rules which are similar to the Guidelines.The BRADR started its business this March and has beenhandling several big reorganization cases, including publiccompanies. The government-owned organizations may guaranteesubstantial part of debts owed by a debtor during the workoutprocess as DIP �nancing. In cases where unanimous consentcould not be reached, the debtor may �le a court-administeredmediation proceeding, and the Court may issue an order recom-

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mending that the holdout creditors accept the proposed plan withpossible amendments. If the creditors do not object to the orderwithin two weeks, the order becomes e�ective to bind the rele-vant parties. If the creditors object to the order, the debtor shouldconvert the case to a statutory reorganization proceeding in whichthe proposed plan may be treated as a prenegotiated plan.

Creation of Enterprises Turnaround InitiativeCorporation of Japan (ETICJ)

The bill to establish a new quasi-governmental corporation toassist revitalization of ailing companies became a law on June19, 2009, and the new corporation started its business on October16, 2009. The new law is similar to the IRCJ law with minoramendments. The main targeted companies are mid-sizedcorporations whose failure may have adverse impact on localeconomies. Other small-and mid-sized companies can be reorga-nized assisted by SMEs Turnaround Associations that were cre-ated in 47 prefectures in 2003, the year in which the IRCJ wascreated. Larger corporations could be reorganized by expeditedworkout without the purchase of debts by the public sector, pos-sibly assisted by the aforementioned BRADR. For the purpose ofinfusing new money into distressed SMEs, there are regionalfunds created to help revitalization of local enterprises in eachprefectures as well as private-equity funds specialized to investin distressed companies. In addition to the new ETICJ, we haveseveral options to restructure business corporations in Japansuch as 1) expedited statutory reorganization proceduressupervised by courts; 2) the aforementioned new BRADR; 3) SMETurnaround Association; 4) Enterprises Restructuring Group ofthe Resolution & Collection Corporation; 5) local restructuringfunds in every one of the 47 prefectures; and 6) private equityfunds specialized in investing in distressed corporations, etc. Thiscompetitive environment might have contributed to improveprofessional expertise to restructure distressed corporations inJapan.

Lager corporations are going to be saved through provision ofloans and/or infusion of equities by the Development Bank ofJapan (DBJ), which is owned by the Japanese government, underthe guarantee of the Japanese government, according to thespecial emergent legislation.

Japan Airlines Revitalization TaskforceMinister of Land, Infrastructure, Transportation, and Tourism

appointed �ve experts as members of JAL RevitalizationTaskforce on September 25, 2009, and this Taskforce, which Ichaired, started overall due diligence to draft operational and�nancial restructuring plan for JAL. Nearly 100 experts partici-pated in doing the DD and formulating the draft plan intensively.

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Discussions were held countless times with JAL's managementand sta� and the �ve major banks that own the biggest exposuresin JAL, including DBJ and other key stakeholders. and theTaskforce completed the draft reorganization plan on October 26,2009. The draft plan contemplated the solicititation of hugeamount of debt forgiveness and debt equity swaps for creditor�nancial institutions as well as huge amounts of capital infusionas equities to DBJ and others.

The government-owned JAL started its business in 1951 andwas privatized in 1987. JAL owns many obsolete huge jumbo jetaircrafts that consume a lot of fuel. JAL could not replace theseold ine�ective planes with smaller, more energy-e�cient planesdue to a cash shortage, and it sold air tickets at lower prices to�ll vacant seats even as that created losses. Japanese central andmunicipality governments have constructed too many localairports, and JAL could not refuse to use these ine�ective localairports even while accumulating huge losses. JAL also bearshuge amounts of legacy costs, including pension payments toretirees, similar to GM. Our draft plan included strategies andtactics to resolve these problems—such as replacement ofairplanes, closing down unpro�table local operations and cuttinglegacy costs mentioned above—to turn JAL pro�table as early aspossible. It was planned that the members of taskforce would beco-chief restructuring o�cers for JAL, assuming the role ofnegotiator with stakeholders including creditors, unions, retireesand others, soliciting them to accept the plan and consummatingthe plan substantially. However, the Minister of Finance andDBJ refused to infuse new money into JAL and requested us tolet the newly established ETICJ take over our role on October 26.ETICJ is able to raise new money which will be infused into JALunder the guarantee of the Japanese government. I don't knowthe true reason why the MOF preferred the ETICJ instead ofDBJ as an equity provider to JAL. Currently, the ETICJ is doinganother DD in order to decide whether it will help JAL or not.JAL also �led a petition to commence BRADR on November 13.Because BRADR has convenient tools in terms of priority statusof emergency loans extended during the pending case, it may begood for Japan to have so many tools to accomplish similar goals,but it also becomes di�cult to choose the most appropriate onesfrom among them.

Proposal to Create Quasi-Governmental Organization toRevitalize Ailing Corporations

In order to save ailing business corporations that are sociallyuseful, providing liquidity and assisting their restructuring e�ortis essential to restore the health of the national economy in eachcountry. To serve that purpose, it could be e�ective to establish agovernment-backed special purpose corporation operated by

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private sector professionals who possess rich experience and spe-cialized expertise in reorganizing troubled companies in eachcountry. The corporation administers following the workoutprocesses. Solution process is consisted of the following stages:

1. Application made by ailing companies that are useful for thenational economy

2. After preliminary due diligence, a decision whether to helpthe applicant is made

3. Notice of standstill or stay to �nancial creditors (i.e., morato-rium)

4. Facilitating provision of �nance by �nancial institutionsunder the guarantee of governmental agencies

5. Financial and business due diligence conducted by profes-sional experts

6. Developing business and �nancial restructuring plans forthe companies assisted by professional experts

7. Soliciting and persuading creditors and other a�ected par-ties accept the proposed restructuring plans

8. Execution of the accepted plans9. In some cases, purchasing debts and infusion of capital may

be usefulIndependence from political interference and freedom from cor-

ruption is not only critical but also essential for the e�ectivenessof the organization and its o�cers. The sta�s must be consistedof professional experts recruited from the private sectors, not ofgovernment bureaucrats. Also, advanced skill of sta� forturnaround management is essential. Most of team leaders of theIRCJ earned an MBA degree in business schools in U.S. or theU.K.

Until now, Japan has not been in a situation where myproposed solution above is in critical need, but some countrieswhich are struggling with severe economic downturn a need ascheme for expedited workout solutions assisted by internationalorganizations. We need to pay attention to the point that CDS(credit default swaps) may be an obstacle for successful workouts.In addition, obtaining unanimous consent would be very di�cultin those countries where out-of-court workout solution is not usu-ally used. The majority rule involving the courts or other ap-propriate authorities may be helpful in these situations.

Appendix 4. Emergent Proposal to Create Quasi-Governmental Organizations to Rescue and Revitalize

Ailing CorporationsBy Dr. Shinjiro Takagi

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August 2, 2009

Mexico City

PurposeDue to unprecedented devastating drop in consumer demands,

a lot of business corporations are su�ering from severe �nancialdi�culties such as a cash shortage problem caused by negativecash �ow and incurring excessive amount of debts compared totheir downsized operation. To save such ailing business corpora-tions that are useful socially, providing liquidity and assistingtheir restructuring e�ort is essential to restore the health ofnational economy in each country. To tackle these matters in alimited period of time, it would be e�ective to establish agovernment-backed special purpose corporation operated byprivate sector professionals who possess rich experience and spe-cialized expertise of reorganizing troubled companies in eachcountry.

Organization and Outline of the ProcessThe corporation should be formed at the initiative of the

national government and capitalized by other public sectorsincluding the government with limited life of �ve years (i.e., to beformed as a sunset corporation) and operated by board members,executives, and sta� recruited from the private sector who havespecial expertise in restructuring troubled businesses. Boardmembers and executives are appointed by the government andmust be politically independent from the government.

The corporation administers following workout processes.Solution process is consisted of the following stages:1. Selecting target ailing companies which are useful for the

national economy2. Notice of standstill or stay issued to �nancial creditors (i.e.,

moratorium)3. Facilitating provision of �nance by �nancial institutions

under the guarantee of Governmental agencies4. Financial and business due diligence conducted by profes-

sional experts5. Drafting business and �nancial restructuring plans for the

companies assisted by professional experts6. Soliciting and persuading creditors and other a�ected par-

ties to accept the proposed restructuring plans7. Execution of the accepted plans

Rules1. Troubled companies (TC) are able to apply for assistance

from the corporation (CO).2. TC must be economically useful for the country and its

people.

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3. CO should help only those companies whose continuedoperation is bene�cial for the country and its people.

4. Upon the decision by the Board of Directors (BOD), the COundertakes preliminary due diligence (DD) research on theTC's usefulness, possibility of survival, �nancial status,and other related matters within two weeks after the �lingof the application.

5. Within a few days after the completion of the DD, the BODmust decide whether the CO will assist the TC or not.

6. Once the assisting decision (AD) is made by the BOD, theCO issues a notice of standstill (NS) immediately, by fax orother appropriate devices, to all relevant creditors of theCO.

7. The relevant creditors (RC) include banks, �nancial institu-tions, bondholders, indenture trustees, and other �nancialcreditors to whom the CO owes debts. Trade creditors withhuge claims whose participation are indispensable forsustainable restructuring of the CO could be included inthe RC category.

8. Upon issuance of the NS, all RC are prohibited to take anycollection actions against the CO and their codebtors,including guarantors, to maintain their exposure as of theissuing date of the NS. Prohibitions include:E any acts to collect or recover a claimE commencement or continuation of judicial or administra-

tive action or proceedingE enforcement of a judgmentE obtainment or repossession of propertyE realization of secured rightsE any acts to create, perfect or enforce any lien or secured

rightsE seto� of any debts

9. Within a week after the NS, the CO and the TC mustconvene a creditors' meeting and report the present statusof the TC.

10. Within two months after the NS, the CO should study thepast, present, and future �nancial and operational statusof the TC under DD, aided by external professional experts,and the TC must draft operational and �nancial reorgani-zation plans (plans assisted by the CO and other profes-sional experts.

11. When the TC is loss making and/or insolvent(ie.,liabilityexceeds assets), the Plans must provide appropriate meansto turn to pro�tability and dissolve insolvency within threeyears.

12. The Plans must be equal, fair, equitable, and feasible.13. When the Plans provide for debt forgiveness and/or debt

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equity swap, claims should be treated on pro rata and/orpari passu principles.

14. When the Plans provide for impairment of claims by anymeans, equity of the TC should be wiped out or diluted, ifany.

15. Should incumbent managers be responsible for the TC'sdi�culty, the Plans must provide for the replacement ofthe management of the TC.

16. Within two weeks after the Plans are completed and theBOD are satis�ed that the Plans meet abovementionedrequirements, the BOD should approve the Plans.

17. Within one month after the approval of the Plans by theBOD, the TC and the CO should solicit and persuade theRC to accept the Plans.

18. Within one month after the acceptance of the Plans, theTC must execute and consummate the Plans.

19. Upon the substantial consummation (SC) of the Plans, theprocess is completed.

20. Any time before the completion of the process, the BODcan cancel the assistance decision when the Plan does notmeet the aforementioned criteria or unforeseeable changesin other circumstances occur.

21. During the period that begins with the AD and ends withthe SC or the abovementioned cancellation, the CO mayask �nancial institutions to provide �nancing to the TC todefray its overhead costs under the guarantee of thegovernmental agency.

22. The CO is entitled to purchase and sell the TC's debts andequities. The CO is also entitled to obtain the TC's equitiesby other means and dispose of them.

23. When the case is converted to statutory insolvency proceed-ings, the loan debts owed to �nancial institutions by theTC which was provided under the aforementioned Rule 21will be treated as priority debts in the same way asadministration expenses.

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