In the 23 April 2026 issue of Recueil Dalloz, Reinhard Dammann, together with Patrick Sayer, President of the Paris Economic Affairs Court, publishes an analysis devoted to the competitive challenges between French and English law in the field of cross-border restructuring:
“For a level playing field between French and English law in cross-border restructuring”
This contribution lies at the heart of current debates on the attractiveness of French insolvency and restructuring law, in a post-Brexit context where European and international balances in financial restructuring are undergoing significant change.
The article analyses the advantages currently enjoyed by English law, in particular through the scheme of arrangementand the restructuring plan, two mechanisms widely used in international financial restructurings. The authors highlight the effects of the jurisdictional privilege granted to English courts and the difficulties this situation may create for the recognition of French proceedings abroad.
In response to these challenges, Reinhard Dammann and Patrick Sayer offer a reflection on the evolution of French law, particularly around a possible reform of Article R. 600-1 of the French Commercial Code. The objective is to enable French courts, and in particular the commercial courts, to exercise more effective control over foreign decisions in matters of insolvency and restructuring.
This publication underlines the need to preserve French legal sovereignty while strengthening the attractiveness of Paris as a leading venue for cross-border restructuring.
It also reflects a high-level collaboration between a practitioner in insolvency and restructuring law and the President of the Paris Economic Affairs Court, on a subject of strategic importance for the future of French restructuring law.
A major contribution to the debate on the conditions required to establish a genuine level playing field between French and English law in the handling of international restructurings.
