Newsletter No. 14
What is the outcome of the continued General Review Hearing before the Princely Court of Justice on 20 December 2021?
The third court hearing (continuation of the General Review Hearing) in the bankruptcy proceedings of Gable Insurance AG in liquidation (Gable) took place before the Princely Court of Justice (Landgericht) in Vaduz on 20 December 2021. The liquidator was able to declare to the Court the correctness and order of precedence of further 777 registered claims (damage and premium refund claims). Together, these claims amount to CHF 24.3 million, of which CHF 21.7 million apply to (privileged) insurance claims and CHF 2.6 million apply to (non-privileged) bankruptcy claims.
The liquidator was able to fully acknowledge 554 claims totalling CHF 3.2 million, but had to fully or partially contest 223 claims totalling CHF 21.1 million. Of the acknowledged claim amount, CHF 2.6 million apply to (privileged) insurance claims and CHF 0.6 million apply to (non-privileged) bankruptcy claims (class 4).
The Princely Court of Justice has recorded the outcome of the review hearing in the register of claims. The creditors can obtain the register of claims from the liquidator.
The liquidator was able to report to the Princely Court of Justice and the representatives of creditors present with regard to the assets, that at present, there are liquid funds and assets to the value of around CHF 90.3 million. The liquidator expects regular and, in part, larger receipts from reinsured damage claims. These reinsurance benefits constitute the most valuable asset value which has not yet been realised.
For reasons of completeness, the liquidator refers to newsletter no. 6 and 11 which provided information regarding the outcome of the General Review Hearing of 12 December 2018 and 20 September 2020. This outcome is not included in the figures mentioned above. At the three General Review Hearings to date 12,526 bankruptcy claims totalling CHF 167.5 million were dealt with, of which claims totalling CHF 55 million were acknowledged and claims totalling CHF 112.5 million were contested.
The liquidator has not yet been able to examine or completely examine the remaining 950 registered claims.
In total, up until now, 13,476 claims totalling CHF 414.3 million have been registered in the bankruptcy proceedings. It is worth mentioning that these include individual claims from guarantee schemes which in turn comprise hundreds or thousands of individual claims.
What happens next in the bankruptcy proceedings?
The General Review Hearing has again been extended indefinitely for the time being.
In the meantime, the liquidator is continuing the review process with regard to the claims which have not yet been examined or completely examined.
Apart from this, approximately 2,200 registered damage cases are still being processed. We can therefore expect a number of additional claims to be registered.
How will creditors be informed of the outcome of the General Review Hearing of 20 December 2021?
The Princely Court of Justice shall notify in writing those creditors whose claims were with regard to the amount claimed and/or the applicable class (privileged or non-privileged) partially or fully contested on 20 December 2021. They may bring legal action against the estate of Gable within 14 days of receipt if they do not agree with the contest. If they do not bring legal action on time, they shall be excluded as a creditor from the bankruptcy proceedings completely or, for a partial contest, with regard to the proportion of the claim disputed. In addition, creditors are definitively classified in the recognised class.
Creditors whose claims were with regard to the amount claimed and/or the applicable class (privileged or non-privileged) acknowledged on 20 December 2021 shall not be notified. However, all creditors have the option of accessing the liquidator’s reports and the register of claims by inspecting the files at the Princely Court of Justice, or of contacting the liquidator directly.
The liquidator will submit the next detailed report for the attention of the Princely Court of Justice at the beginning of 2022. A summary of this report will be published on the website.
What bankruptcy dividend can the creditors expect and when will this be paid out?
The amount of the dividend (bankruptcy rate) cannot be estimated at the present time. Of the total registered claims in the amount of CHF 414.3 million, claims totalling CHF 246.8 million have not yet been examined or completely examined. Both the decision about acknowledging or contesting these claims and the classification as (privileged) insurance claims or (non-privileged) bankruptcy claims have a significant influence on the ratio of available assets and acknowledged liabilities.
The creditors cannot expect a (partial) pay-out until further notice. This is only conceivable once the General Review Hearing is complete.