Cap. 632 Art. 26Data collection. Cap. 631.  Cap. 13.    Cap. 386. Cap. 16.   Cap. 631.  Cap. 631.   Cap. 386. Cap. 16.   Cap. 13.     Cap. 631.   Cap. 631.

(1) The competent authority shall be responsible to collect and aggregate, on an annual basis, national data on procedures concerning:

(a) applications for preventive restructuring procedure in terms of the Pre-Insolvency Act

(b) applications for the declaration of bankruptcy and a discharge of debt in terms of Part III of the Commercial Code; and

(c) applications for winding up due to insolvency, by companies or commercial partnerships in terms of the

Companies Act or by legal organisations in terms of the Civil

Code.

(2) The type of information that shall be collected by the competent authority shall be sorted with respect to each procedure listed in sub-article (1), and shall include, but not be limited to:

(a) the number of procedures that were applied for or opened, and of procedures that are pending or were closed;

(b) the average length of procedures from the submission of the application for the commencement of court proceedings, or from the opening thereof, to their closure;

(c) the number of applications for preventive restructuring procedures in terms of the Pre-Insolvency Act that were declared inadmissible, were rejected or were withdrawn before a preventive restructuring order was issued in terms thereof; and

(d) the number of procedures other than those required under paragraph (c), sorted by the outcome of the respective procedures.

(3) The competent authority shall sort any data that shall be collected and aggregated in terms of sub-article (2)(a), (b) and (d), by reference to:

(a) the size of the debtors, not being natural persons;

(b) whether debtors subject to procedures concerning preventive restructuring proceedings in terms of the Pre-

Insolvency Act, or insolvency proceedings in terms of the

Companies Act or the Civil Code as applicable, are natural or legal persons; and

(c) whether the procedures leading to a discharge of debt in terms of Part III of the Commercial Code concern only natural persons in the course of a trade, business, craft or profession, or all natural persons.

(4) The competent authority shall also collect and aggregate, on an annual basis, data on the number of debtors which were subject to preventive restructuring proceedings in terms of the Pre-Insolvency

Act, or insolvency proceedings, and which, within the three (3) years prior to the submission of the application or the opening of such proceedings, had a restructuring plan confirmed in terms of the Pre-Insolvency Act.

(5) Any data to be collected and aggregated in terms of this article shall be compiled for full calendar years ending on 31 December of each year, starting with the first full calendar year following the date of application of the implementing acts referred to in Article 29(7) of Directive (EU) 2019/1023 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 on preventive restructuring frameworks, on discharge of debt and disqualifications, and on measures to increase the efficiency of procedures concerning restructuring, insolvency and discharge of debt, and amending Directive (EU) 2017/1132 (Directive on restructuring and insolvency).

(6) The Minister may, acting on the recommendation of the competent authority, make regulations as may be conducive to the fulfilment of the Article 29(7) of Directive (EU) 2019/1023 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 on preventive restructuring frameworks, on discharge of debt and disqualifications, and on measures to increase the efficiency of procedures concerning restructuring, insolvency and discharge of debt, and amending Directive (EU) 2017/1132 (Directive on restructuring and insolvency).

(7) Every insolvency practitioner or registered firm shall be required to maintain a record of the data set out in terms of this article, in respect of their own functions, and the competent authority may, at its own discretion, request the provision of such data from the insolvency practitioner or registered firm by not less than fourteen (14) daysfrom the date of such request.

(8) Where the competent authority makes a request to a relevant person, body or authority to provide information that is materially necessary for the fulfilment of the competent authority’s data collection functions in terms of this article, the relevant person, body or authority shall, to the extent that is permissible, provide the requested information to the competent authority without undue delay.

(9) Any person who breaches the provisions of this article which impose upon him an obligation to collect, aggregate, store, or sort data, or communicate that data to the competent authority, shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction for each offence, in respect of the first offence to a fine (multa) not exceeding one thousand and two hundred euro (€1,200) and in respect of a second or subsequent offence to a fine (multa) not exceeding six thousand euro (€6,000), and in the case of a continuing offence to an additional fine (multa) not exceeding one hundred and twenty euro (€120) for each day during which the offence continues.