A right to know: District Court sided with a widow of bankrupt

The Arbitration Court of the Ural District considered the case within the framework of the insolvency of the deceased debtor.  His widow and heiress in one person demanded to declare the bankruptcy trustee’s inaction illegal.  The woman was dissatisfied with the failure to provide her with information about the companies in which her deceased husband had shares.

The first two instances rejected the claim, citing commercial secrets.

However, the district court, overturning the lower acts, indicated that the judges should have made a decision on the issue of maintaining a balance between the applicant's rights to receive information and commercial secrets.

The Board recalled that in a debtor's bankruptcy case, the bankruptcy trustee is the only part that has the right to control the companies on behalf of the debtor. Thus, the anti-crisis manager is obliged to periodically request the necessary documentation in order to understand what is happening in the companies accountable to him.

At the same time, the widow of a bankrupt also has the formal right to control the activities of companies. She is an interested person and must have access to information, since she is interested in the most complete formation of the bankruptcy estate.

Consequently, the widow of the debtor has the right to receive information, and the bankruptcy trustee, before transferring the information, has the right to request from her a receipt on the confidentiality of the transmitted data (decision No. F09-7964 / 19 in case № A76-32541 / 2018 of September 27, 2021).