The event was hosted from 23rd to 25th February at the IIMB campus by the Centre for Capital Markets & Risk Management along with the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India
27 February, 2023, Bengaluru: The three-day second International Research Conference on Insolvency and Bankruptcy (IBC 2023), held by the Centre for Capital Markets and Risk Management (CCMRM) at IIM Bangalore, in partnership with the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI), was attended by more than 200 participants. The event was held at the IIMB campus at Bengaluru, from 23rd February (Thursday) to 25th February (Saturday) 2023.
The conference was co-sponsored by the British High Commission, New Delhi; National E-Governance Services Limited (NeSL); Small Industries Development Bank of India; Union Bank of India and Bank of Maharashtra, and was co-supported by the Insolvency Law Academy.
The conference was inaugurated by the Chief Guest, Hon’ble Chief Justice (former) Ramalingam Sudhakar, President, National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). Highlighting the efforts of IBBI in redefining the Code, he pointed out the need of further work that needs to be done in the insolvency ecosystem. He also discussed the role of stakeholders, such as Insolvency Professional, Information Utility, Adjudicating Authority, service provider organizations, etc. in the implementation of the Code. “The papers of the first research conference were deliberated upon and suitable action was taken by IBBI based on the findings. Indepth and high-quality research on insolvency is crucial to assist the judiciary in resolving insolvency cases. Research on insolvency is also important for identifying gaps in the law and finding out where the law needs reform.”
Hon’ble Justice Kannan Ramesh, Judge, Appellate Division, Supreme Court of Singapore and Judge, Singapore International Commercial Court; Chandru K. Iyer, Hon’ble British Deputy High Commissioner to India, and Ravi Mital, Chairperson, IBBI, delivered special addresses in the inaugural session of the conference. Prof. Rishikesha T Krishnan, Director, IIM Bangalore, delivered the welcome address and Jayanti Prasad, Whole Time Member, IBBI, delivered the vote of thanks at the end of the inaugural session.
Justice Kannan Ramesh highlighted the importance of cooperation and communication between courts in cross-border insolvency matters. He explained Judicial Insolvency Network (JIN) guidelines which address key aspects of communication and cooperation amongst courts, insolvency representatives and other parties involved in cross-border insolvency proceedings. “The overarching aim of the JIN guidelines is the preservation of enterprise value and the reduction of legal costs”, he added.
Chandru K. Iyer’s talk focused on the rich history of cooperation as well as trade and investment relations between UK and India, including in matters of insolvency and bankruptcy. “The UK Government has been continuously engaging with the Indian Government and regulators as part of the FCDO Technical Assistance Programme on Financial Services in India, wherein insolvency is one of the key areas identified under this programme to support India’s fast-growing insolvency regime.”
Ravi Mital pointed out the importance of evidence-based research in policy making. He emphasized that research endeavors should be of ongoing nature to help regulation and law making in the area of insolvency.
Prof. M Jayadev, Chairperson, Centre for Capital Markets and Risk Management and faculty in the Finance & Accounting area of IIMB, gave an overview of the session on ‘Political Economy of Rulemaking’. Prof. Vikrant Vig, Henry D. Bullock Chaired Professor of Finance at Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, delivered the keynote address in the session. Sudhaker Shukla, Whole Time Member, IBBI, too addressed the audience.
The conference offered a unique opportunity to listen to thought leaders and policy makers in three panel discussions. The panel discussion on ‘Insolvency Resolutions: A Special Case for SMEs’ was chaired by Avinash K Srivastava, Member (T), NCLT. The panellists were B. Sriram, Former MD & CEO, IDBI Bank Ltd.; Antonia Menezes, Senior Financial Sector Specialist, World Bank Group; Hiroshi Kasuya, Partner, Baker & McKenzie, Japan, and V. Satya Venkata Rao, Deputy Managing Director, SIDBI.
The panel on ‘Next Generation Reforms in Indian Insolvency Regime’ was chaired by Justice Kannan Ramesh. The session featured Ajith Nivard Cabraal, Former Governor, Central Bank of Sri Lanka; James H.M. Sprayregen, Founder, Kirkland & Ellis’ Worldwide Restructuring Group, Chicago, USA; Prof. Wai Yee Wan, Associate Dean (Research and Internationalisation) and Professor, School of law, City University of Hong Kong, and Sumant Batra, Founder, Insolvency Law Academy.
The third and last panel discussion on ‘IBC – Perspectives of Key Stakeholders’ was chaired by Jayanti Prasad. It included Sunil Mehta, Chief Executive, Indian Banks' Association; Subrata Biswas, Deputy Managing Director, SBI; Dr. S.K. Gupta, MD, ICMAI RVO, and Pankaj Khetan, Insolvency Professional, IBBI. These discussions offered thought leadership insights from leading luminaries from Government and industry as well as from legal practitioners and academicians to help assess and understand the present while setting a course for the future for the insolvency regime in India.
The conference also featured expert guest speakers dealing with restructuring and insolvency, and academicians with research in the field of corporate distress and insolvency. The conference included a valedictory lecture on ‘Reinventing Insolvency Law in Emerging Markets’ by Prof. Aurelio Gurrea-Martinez, Singapore Management University, along with special remarks by Ramasubramanian S, Executive Director, Union Bank of India.
The conference included a workshop on ‘Data-driven Insolvency Research’ aiming to provide participants useful insights in the areas of research, extensive exposure to data currently available for such research and future developments. The workshop was chaired by Jayanti Prasad and included special addresses by Anita Shah Akella, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India; Sandip Garg, Executive Director, IBBI; Debajyoti Ray Chaudhuri, MD and CEO, NeSL, and Prof. Venkatesh Panchapagesan, faculty in the Finance & Accounting area and Chairperson, Real Estate Research Initiative, IIM Bangalore.
Two research papers titled, ‘Do firms have a preference order while repaying lenders? Relationship vs. Transaction Banking’ in the Economics/Finance category and ‘The homebuyers conundrum in Real Estate Insolvency’ in the Legal category, received the best paper awards.
The conference concluded with the announcement of the best paper awards by Prof. M Jayadev and closing remarks by Sudhaker Shukla. Underlining the importance of research in policy making, Sudhaker Shukla summed up all the major issues raised during the conference, including but not limited to, harmonization of insolvency rules across jurisdictions without losing the ‘grain of the soil’, which ensures local innovation and local content while framing insolvency laws.
The event engaged the finest minds from the banking, industry, law, research and academics domains from India and abroad. During the conference, knowledge products in the insolvency domain were presented by over 40 scholars of economics, law, finance, banking and management. International experience in insolvency was also shared and discussed by scholars from countries like Australia and England.
2nd International Conference on Insolvency and Bankruptcy: https://www.youtube.com/live/wu0FkTiWbCw?feature=share
Political Economy of Rulemaking: https://www.youtube.com/live/nLV5u_dyewA?feature=share
Panel Discussion 1: Insolvency Resolutions: A Special Case for SMEs: https://www.youtube.com/live/FitnLSKusxw?feature=share
Panel Discussion 2: Next Generation Reforms in Indian Insolvency Regime: https://www.youtube.com/live/vHRkJDfYBCs?feature=share
Workshop on Data-driven Insolvency Research: https://www.youtube.com/live/eABPOgFubjE?feature=share
Panel Discussion 3: IBC – Perspectives of Key Stakeholders and Valedictory Address: https://www.youtube.com/live/GCFL37a-7vo?feature=share
Click here for photos from Day 1
Click here for photos from Day 2
Click here for photos from Day 3