On February 19-20, CLDP, in coordination with the Saudi Ministry of Commerce and Investment and the Saudi Ministry of Justice, organized a conference for Saudi and Bahraini judges, government officials, accountants and other stakeholders on how to develop the institutions and capacity needed to implement a bankruptcy system that maximizes credit recovery and stimulates economic growth. The conference was hosted at the newly completed Saudi Judicial Training Institute and included at least 30 Saudi judges in addition to Saudi accountants, government officials and lawyers. The conference also included a high level Bahraini delegation, headed by Abdulrahman Bu-Ali, Chairman of the Bahraini Parliament’s Finance Committee in addition to the principal authors of its draft bankruptcy law, a representative of the private sector and two representatives of the Bahrain Economic Development Board.  The conference sessions were led by two Federal Bankruptcy Judges, Brian Tester and Martin Glenn (Puerto Rico and SDNY), in addition to a bankruptcy lawyer with significant international experience.

The conference took place immediately following the King of Saudi Arabia’s signature of their new bankruptcy law, which revolutionizes the legal framework for Saudi businesses by providing court supervised solutions, such as reorganization and protective settlements, to failing businesses instead of simply liquidation or worse, jail time, as was the case previously in Saudi Arabia for debtors unable to fulfill their obligations. Bahrain is also in the process of developing a new bankruptcy code that would provide similar solutions and its draft law will likely be submitted to its Parliament later this Spring for review. CLDP, with renewed State Department (MEPI) funding, will continue to work with the Saudi and Bahraini governments and judiciaries to develop their capacities to implement these new laws over the next three years to maximize their benefits to the economies and particularly to the small businesses in these two countries.