I. EDITORIAL – NEW REGULATIONS IN THE INSOLVENCY CODE

The month of June oversaw a major modification in the Insolvency Code, which also promoted some changed in the Companies Code, through the Decree-Law n.º 79/2017, of June 30^th.

One of the most significant new rules imposes the obligation of a Chartered Accountant to certify that a Company which is interested in starting a recovery procedure (“Processo Especial de Revitalização”) is not in a bankruptcy situation.

It were also worth mentioning the amendments of the Civil Code, approved by the Law no. 43/2017 of June 14, as well as the establishment of «cooperativa na hora», approved by the Decree-Law no. 54/2017 of June 2. The approval of the mentioned Decree-Law allows the immediate establishment of cooperatives, contributing for the implementation of the SIMPLEX+ Program.

Concerning case law, one must emphasize the importance of the Judgement of the Court of 8 June, Case nº C‑580/15, given that the Court considered that Article 56.º TFEU and Article 36.º of the Agreement on the European Economic Area of 2 May 1992 must be interpreted as precluding national legislation, such as that at issue in the main proceedings, which provides for a national tax exemption system, to the extent that that system, although applicable without distinction to income from savings deposits held with banking service providers established in a Member State of the European Economic Area, imposes conditions for access to the banking market on service providers established in other Member States, this being a matter for the referring court to verify.

It should also be pointed out that the Judgment of the Constitutional Court no. 292/2017 of June 8, Case 893/2016 establishes that the provision in article 7.º, no. 5 of the Law no. 15/2001, of June 5 is unconstitutional, as well as the Judgment of the Constitutional Court no. 293/2017 of June 8, Case 908/2016, which declares that the provision in article 26.º, no. 4, paragraph a) of the Law no. 6/2006, of February 27, amended by the Law no. 31/2012, of August 14 is unconstitutional.

Finally, we highlight the approval of a decree-law which ensures the articulation between the law that bans the issuance of bearer securities and the specific legislation applicable to the public debt.