On January 3th of 2017, The Judicial Branch Council (CPJ acronym in Spanish) of the Dominican Republic issued an Act which establishes the halls for the liquidation and restructuring courts for companies and individuals traders. The First Hall of the Civil and Commercial Chamber of First Instances of the National District and second Hall of the Civil and Commercial Chamber of the Court of First Instances of Santiago are the ones that will work as Liquidation and Restructuring Courts for Companies and Individuals Traders.

Also establish the Second Hall of the Civil and Commercial Chamber of the Court of Appeal of National District and Civil and Commercial Chamber of the Court of Appeal of Santiago as Liquidation and Restructuring Courts for Companies and Individuals Traders, until the judges of these judicial structures are appointed.

The decision is contained in Act 44/2016, which states that the purpose of the measure is to comply with the provisions of article 236 Law 141-15 Restructuring and Liquidation of Companies and Physical Persons Merchants, dated August 7, 2015.

The purpose of Law 141-15 is to establish the mechanisms and procedures designed to protect creditors in the face of the financial difficulty of their debtors, which may impede the fulfillment of the obligations assumed and achieve the operational continuity of companies and individuals traders, Through the procedures of restructuring or judicial liquidation, as established in Article 1 of this law.

In Article 2 of this Statutory Law, the rule applies to natural persons traders, domestic or foreign, and national companies and those domiciled or permanently present in the national territory, except for companies and commercial companies whose participation Majority or control is exercised by the State, and also are exempt from financial intermediation entities governed by Monetary and Financial Law No.183-02, securities intermediaries, investment fund management companies, centralized securities depositories, stock exchanges and securitization companies.

The Judicial Power Council adopted the measure so that the norm can enter into force and is enforced from the month of February of 2017.

Some of our professionals are certified insolvency and restructuring conciliators, negotiators and liquidators by the DR Federation of Chambers of Commerce.

Do you want more information about bankruptcy and restructuring law in Dominican Republic? Contact Us.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Dr. Felipe Isa Castillo is a Partner leading the Foreign Investment, Real Estate & Tourism areas at Arthur & Castillo Law Firm and Attorneys in the Dominican Republic. He specializes in foreign investment, real estate and international business (International Legal Studies LLM in Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C. & Masters in International E- Business in Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona) with more than 20 years of experience in Foreign Investment, Free Trade Zones, International Business and Cross Border Real Estate practice. Dr. Castillo is a Certified Bankruptcy Conciliator and Liquidator and Legal Interpreter.

Email: [email protected]

 Disclaimer: This publication is not intended to provide legal advice or suggest a guaranteed outcome as individual situations will differ and the law may have changed since publication. For specific technical or legal advice on the information provided and related topics, please contact the author.

© Arthur & Castillo Lawyers Dominican Republic