律所要闻 / 條目

Digital future and new rules in insolvency law: That was the BvCM Federal Congress 2018

With its outstanding, award-winning architecture, the Carmen Würth Forum Congress and Cultural Centre in Künzelsau, Baden-Württemberg, inaugurated just last year, provided the perfect backdrop for this year’s 15^thFederal Congress of the German Credit Management Association (BvCM). The main topic of the two-day event, which has established itself as the most important event of the year in the community of German credit managers, was digitization. During the large panel discussion on the first day of the congress, it was agreed that the work in credit management had changed massively as a result of digital developments and that it had benefited greatly from the expanded opportunities for obtaining information.

Exciting contributions were made, inter alia, by Prof. Dr. Georg Rainer Hofmann from the Aschaffenburg University of Applied Sciences, who dealt with the topic of artificial intelligence, and Prof. Dr. Matthias Schumann, Chairman of the BvCM Board of Directors, who showed in his moderation of the panel discussion on the first day the potential effects of big data, artificial intelligence and blockchain on credit management.

In addition to digitization, other industry-relevant topics were on the agenda. Michael Schmidt, head of the insolvency practice Group at PASCHEN and head of the BvCM insolvency practice group, presented as part of a panel discussion the European Commission’s proposal for consistent EU rules for pro-insolvency restructuring. His conclusion: Although the directive, which will come into force in two years at the earliest, is not absolutely necessary, the associated early warning system makes sense and could ultimately lead to higher insolvency rates. Since it could be considered certain that the corresponding directive would be adopted, the BvCM would be well advised to play its part in shaping the procedure at national level.

The next Federal Congress under the motto “Credit meets Energy” will take place on 10 and 11 October 2019 in Garching near Munich.