International conference on insolvency, bankruptcy: Minister says IBC provided effective ecosystem for insolvency resolution

As per a release issued by IIMA, in his inaugural address, Singh cited that the Code has assumed larger significance during the Covid-19 pandemic and has been instrumental in saving both lives and livelihoods.

He also lauded the extraordinary contributions of judiciary, government agencies, regulators, and stakeholders of the IBC ecosystem in facilitating swift and effective implementation of the Code.

He highlighted that introduction of the proposed cross border insolvency resolution framework will be a landmark step in redefining India’s business and economic relations with the rest of the world.

The two-day research conference was held under the aegis of the Misra Centre of Financial Markets at IIMA. Other associate partners of the conference include the National Stock Exchange, State Bank of India, BSE Investors’ Protection Fund, and National Institute of Securities Markets.

Rajesh Verma, Secretary, Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), emphasised on the need to promote culture of research in regulatory framework. Noting the achievements of the Code, he also highlighted that a comprehensive IT platform for processes under the Code is being worked upon.

While M Rajeshwar Rao, Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) highlighted the importance of timely resolution of stressed assets for the banking sector, Ravi Mital, Chairperson, IBBI noted the importance of evidence-based research in policy making.

He emphasised that time is the essence of Code and basic research efforts should be made by all stakeholders to cut down the delays at all stages of insolvency resolution beginning recognition of stress to final resolution.

Professor Errol D’Souza, Director, IIMA said, “Just a few months ago, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance had put up some issues regarding insolvency and bankruptcy. Some of the findings that they reported were interesting and we thought that is a great opportunity to go back to the drawing board and think about what is happening in this very important part of the economy. This conference is an appropriate juncture for us to do so.”

The concluding day saw panel discussions on reforms in insolvency regime, insolvency and bankruptcy resolutions. The conference also included a workshop on data driven insolvency research, aiming to provide researchers extensive exposure to data that are currently available for such research and emerging future developments.