THE SUPREME COURT OF RUSSIA: THE MANAGER IS OBLIGED TO CONTEST SUSPICIOUS TRANSACTIONS OF THE DEBTOR

The question of whether it is the right or the duty of the bankruptcy manager (BM) to contest suspicious transactions of the debtor has remained unresolved in judicial practice for a long time. The judges expressed opposite opinions - some fined the managers in case of non-contest of transactions, others did not see inaction and violations in such behavior.

Now the Supreme Court put an end to this issue, having taken the position of strict regulation, thereby limiting the freedom of managers.

The situation arose around the bankruptcy case of an individual, whose manager decided to wait with challenging suspicious transactions until the possible approval of a debt restructuring plan. One of the creditors did not agree with this tactic and independently achieved the recognition of the contracts as invalid, along the way complaining about the inaction of the BM.

At the same time, the courts of the first and appeal instances recognized the manager's fault and fined him, however, the cassation canceled the punishment, indicating that challenging contracts is a right, but not an obligation of the manager.

At the same time, the judicial board of the Supreme Court of Russia considered the position of the courts of the first and appeal instances correct and imposed a fine. The highest court reminded colleagues that the goal of the insolvency procedure is to achieve a balance of interests between the debtor and creditors, which must be ensured by the manager, including by challenging the suspicious transactions (definition No. 307-ES20-11632 of November 18, 2020).