Van Buggenhout and another v Banque Internationale a Luxembourg SA C-251/12
Judges Ilešic (President) (Rapporteur), Jarašiunas, Ó Caoimh, Toader and Fernlund, and V. Tourrès, Administrator, 19 September 2013
Article 24(1) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1346/2000 of 29 May 2000 on insolvency proceedings must be interpreted as meaning that a payment made at the behest of a debtor subject to insolvency proceedings to one of the latter’s creditors does not fall within the scope of that provision.
The underlying dispute concerned a property development company which had its registered office in Antwerp, Belgium. In May 2006, an application to open insolvency proceedings was made in Brussels. Following that application, two cheques were issued for the benefit of the company by two of its debtor companies. Afterwards, the company appointed new directors and acquired a purchase option issued by a Panamanian company, “Kostner”. It opened two accounts with the respondent Luxembourg bank and transferred the cheques into one account then the other. The bank subsequently issued a cheque for Kostner in payment for the purchase option. In September 2006, the company’s liquidators demanded
