In Portugal, bankruptcy and reorganisation proceedings are governed by the same code, the Insolvency and Corporate Restructuring Code (CIRE), approved by Decree-Law No. 53/2004, of 18 March, which came into force on 15 September 2004.
According to CIRE, there is a single insolvency proceeding, in which the relevant creditors (gathered in a creditors’ meeting) choose between one of two possible outcomes:
- the complete liquidation of the insolvent’s estate and the subsequent distribution to the creditors; and
- the company’s restructuring, through the approval of an insolvency plan.
PENA, Nuno; MOREIRA, Andreia; MACEDO, Joaquim Shearman de; “Portugal”, Restructuring & Insolvency in 50 jurisdictions worldwide, Law Business Research ltd., 2011, páginas 327-337
