In today's Compliance post, we will discuss the issue of satisfying interest on claims filed in bankruptcy proceedings. Current statistics indicate that the number of business bankruptcies is increasing. September 2022 was a month in which courts declared 73 companies bankrupt. This article is dedicated to both businesses in bankruptcy and their creditors (contractors), for whom bankruptcy involves the suspension of payments by debtors and the possibility of pursuing them by filing a claim in bankruptcy proceedings, which typically last several years.
Creditors should remember that, in accordance with the principle expressed in Article 92, Section 1 of the Bankruptcy Law (hereinafter referred to as the " PL "), interest on receivables due from the bankrupt for the period up to the date of bankruptcy declaration estate. It should also be noted that after bankruptcy is declared, a creditor may seek satisfaction of interest only from the bankrupt, not from the bankruptcy estate itself. Furthermore, the limitation resulting from Article 92, Section 1 of the Bankruptcy Law does not apply to interest on receivables that arose after the issuance of the bankruptcy decision. Therefore, interest is calculated according to general rules and is subject to satisfaction in the third category. Returning to the merits, however, the above-mentioned provision, limiting the satisfaction of interest on receivables only for the period up to the date of bankruptcy declaration, gave rise to many doubts of interpretation, which created inconsistent case law. One of these doubts was the issue related to the calculation of interest under the Act on Combating Excessive Delays in Commercial Transactions (hereinafter referred to as the " Act on Commercial Transactions "). Pursuant to Article 3, Section 1 of the Commercial Transactions Act, the Act does not apply to debts covered by proceedings conducted under the Bankruptcy Law Act and the Restructuring Law Act.
Taking into account the above provision, as well as doubts arising during the payment proceedings, the District Court for the Capital City of Warsaw in Warsaw, 18th Commercial Division for Bankruptcy and Commercial Cases, referred the question to the Supreme Court whether excluding the application of the provisions of the Commercial Transactions Act (Article 3, Section 1 of the Commercial Transactions Act) necessitates the application of the general provisions on statutory interest for late payment, or whether it completely excludes the possibility of satisfying interest accrued under this Act in bankruptcy proceedings. On October 5, 2022, a panel of three Supreme Court judges adopted a resolution in which it indicated that excluding the application of the Commercial Transactions Act (Article 3, Section 1 of the aforementioned Act) to debts covered by bankruptcy proceedings does not deprive the creditor of the right to claim statutory interest for late payment under general principles . The operative part of the resolution states that although the creditor cannot claim default interest under the Commercial Transactions Act (exclusion by operation of law), there is nothing to prevent him from exercising his rights under general principles.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.
Legal status as of October 11, 2022
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