The Debt-Restructuring Moratorium and the Role of the Administrator in Brief
By the Provisional Administrator of Swissair Group
11. October 2001
The task: to safeguard creditors’ rights
The task of the provisional administrator is to look after the interests of all creditors by supervising the business activities of the companies which have filed petitions to the debt-restructuring judge for a debt-restructuring moratorium. At present these companies are: SAirGroup, SAirLines, Flightlease AG, Swissair Schweizerische Luftverkehr AG, Swisscargo AG and Cargologic AG. The provisional administrator must also assess the asset, profit and income situations of these companies and their prospects for debt restructuring. In other words it is his task to find the best way forward from the unattractive options left open to these companies.
Time-scale: two months to report to the judge
The provisional administrator has a maximum of two months to make his report to the competent debt-restructuring judges in Zurich and Bülach, i.e. until the end of November 2001. The judge will decide from this report whether to grant an ordinary debt-restructuring moratorium to each company individually.
The creditors: employees, customers, suppliers and providers of loans and credits
The provisional administrator represents the interests of all creditors of SAirGroup, SAirLines, Flightlease AG, Swissair Schweizerische Luftverkehr AG, Swisscargo AG and Cargologic AG. The creditors are employees, customers, suppliers and providers of loans and credits. The privileges of individual groups of creditors are not a factor at the present stage of the proceedings.
The next steps: summary, inventory, prioritisation and business supervision
The provisional administrator gains an overall view of the financial situation of the companies concerned, and reviews their liquidity with a view to a definitive debt-restructuring moratorium. He compiles an inventory of their assets and their profit and income situations. At the same time he must supervise the continued practical pursuit of their business activities and intervene if creditor interests are jeopardised. Finally he must prevent individual creditors from disrupting the restructuring efforts to their own advantage.