THE SUPREME COURT: IN WHAT CASES BANKRUPTCY MANAGER MAY BE HELD ADMINISTRATIVELY LIABLE

The Economic Board of the Supreme Court of Russia considered a case on bringing the bankruptcy manager of the debtor to administrative responsibility. The applicant, in substantiating the claims, referred to the fact that the manager approved by the court did not reveal the circumstances of the deliberate or fictitious bankruptcy and also did not challenge a number of dubious agreements of the citizen declared insolvent.

At first, the courts of two instances satisfied the application, having imposed a fine of 25 thousand rubles. But after that, the district court revoked the judicial acts and the fine as well. The judges indicated that the manager had carried out the work and had not revealed any deliberate or fictitious bankruptcy.

At the same time, the cassation expressed the opinion that the decision to challenge the transaction belonged to the category of rights, but not the obligations of the manager.

Considering the issue in the Supreme Court, the judges indicated that the task of the bankruptcy manager was reduced to maintaining the balance of the rights and interests of the participants in the case. At the same time, the manager was obliged to act in good faith and reasonably both in the interests of the debtor and his creditors.

At the same time, the procedure for challenging suspicious transactions in bankruptcy is one of the ways to replenish the bankruptcy estate, and the manager, in turn, is obliged to take corresponding measures.

In the opinion of the highest court, when considering similar issues of bringing to justice, the courts, first of all, should establish, whether there was a sufficient set of circumstances to challenge the transaction, whether the manager had this information, and whether such a measure could lead to replenishment of the bankruptcy estate (definition No. 307-ES20-11632 dated November 16, 2020).