The great novelty of Netherlands Insolvency Law is that it is the first
book in the English language covering the Netherlands insolvency law as
a whole. It is a practical book for use by internal and external legal
counsel, Dutch and non- Dutch companies, students, academics and
practitioners alike, presenting not only the principal concepts but also
the current state of affairs of the Netherlands in- solvency law. The
reader is offered not only the black letter law, but also impar- tial
discussions presenting differing views on particular aspects of the
insolvency law. Furthermore, Netherlands Insolvency Law briefly
addresses recent develop- ments such as the EU Insolvency Regulation and
the progress made on the ongo- ing total revision of the Netherlands
Bankruptcy Act in the "Marktwerking, Deregulering en Wetgevingskwaliteit
(MDW)"-project. Declercq has successfully managed to strike such a
balance that, on the one hand, the book offers the reader more than an
average introduction, while on the other hand, it is not weighed down in
a quagmire of technical detail. Declercq's experi- ence and
international exposure as an insolvency lawyer in one of the most repu-
table law fmns in the Netherlands has probably contributed in this
respect. Netherlands Insolvency Law promises to become a standard
textbook to a wide- ranging audience. ANTONIUS I. M. vAN MIERLO
ProfessorofLaw Erasmus University Rotterdam January 2002 VII TABLE OF
CONTENTS Preface V Abbreviations XIII Introduction XVII CHAPTER 1 - THE
NETHERLANDS BANKRUPTCY ACT 1.
