Newsletter No. 20
What is the outcome of the continued General Review Hearing before the Princely Court of Justice on 30 October 2024?
The fifth 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 30 October 2024. The liquidator was able to declare to the Court the correctness and order of precedence of further 267 registered claims (damage and premium refund claims). Together, these claims amount to CHF 32,9 million, of which CHF 22,8 million apply to (privileged) insurance claims and CHF 10,1 million apply to (non-privileged) bankruptcy claims.
The liquidator was able to fully recognise 100 claims in terms of their amount, totalling CHF 10,7 million. However, 7 of these claims were contested with regard to the applicable class (privileged or non-privileged). The liquidator had to fully or partially contest 167 claims totalling CHF 22,2 million. 47 of these were also contested with regard to the applicable class (privileged or non-privileged). Of the acknowledged claim amount, CHF 7,1 million apply to (privileged) insurance claims and CHF 3,6 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 can report with regard to the assets that, as at 30 June 2024, there are liquid funds and assets to the value of around CHF 82,7 million. The majority of reinsurance payments have been realised, but it is possible that further payments from reinsured losses will be received.
For the sake of completeness, the liquidator refers to newsletters no. 6, 11, 14 and 17, which provide information regarding the outcome of the first four dates of the General Review Hearing. This outcome is not included in the figures mentioned above. At the five General Review Hearings to date 13.706 claims totalling CHF 293,3 million were dealt with, of which claims totalling CHF 157,3 million were acknowledged and claims totalling CHF 135,9 million were contested.
The liquidator has not yet been able to examine or completely examine the remaining 75 registered claims. The creditors of these claims are demanding CHF 48,8 million.
In total, up until now, 13.781 claims totalling CHF 342,1 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 not yet been completed. A continuation will take place in due course.
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, more than 1.100 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 30 October 2024?
The Princely Court of Justice shall notify in writing those creditors whose claims were partially or fully contested with regard to the amount claimed and/or contested with regard to the applicable class (privileged or non-privileged). They may bring legal action against the estate of Gable within 14 days of receipt of the court order 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 acknowledged with regard to the amount claimed and the applicable class (privileged or non-privileged) on 30 October 2024 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 2025. A summary of this report will be published on the website.
What bankruptcy dividend can the creditors expect and when will it be paid out?
(Privileged) insurance claims amounting to CHF 125,3 million have been recognised at the five General Review Hearings to date. Currently, Gable has realised assets in the amount of approximately CHF 82,7 million. It can therefore be regarded as certain that (non-privileged) bankruptcy claims cannot be satisfied.
The bankruptcy dividend that creditors of (privileged) insurance claims can expect depends on the developments of the liabilities and assets. The amount of the dividend cannot be reliably estimated for this reason, among others, as claims amounting to CHF 48,8 million of the total claims filed of CHF 342,1 million have not yet been examined or have not yet been examined in full.
The creditors cannot expect a (partial) pay-out until further notice. This is only conceivable once the General Review Hearing is complete.