News from Venice - INSOL Europe
Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, Chairman of Ferrari, today graphically described the strengths of Italian industry in terms of its people and their passion. Likening a Ferrari to a beautiful woman, he also said that German cars are great - like a freezer - good, efficient engineering! In a keynote address celebrating INSOL Europe's 30th anniversary, he noted that Ferrari had undergone a variety of restructurings in the 60 years since it first won the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, as it did again in 2011. Clearly proud of his company's European Workplace of the Year award in 2007, he emphasised the need for innovation and communication in restructuring.
Professor Roberto Perotti, an economist from Bocconi University in Milan, appealed today for clear-sightedness amongst politicians and journalists when considering the current European financial crisis. "Greece will and must default and leave the Euro and any attempts to prevent it will fail" was his starkly clear message. The effect outside Greece will be limited, although contagion might occur. Italy and Spain are too big to save if it does.
Chris Laughton, President of INSOL Europe, today launched the European Insolvency Regulation Case Register at www.insolvencycases.eu. A database of judicial decisions relating to the European Insolvency Regulation from throughout the EU, the website is a final public beta release. Academically moderated English language abstracts of some 30 cases had been uploaded at launch and a network of 40 national correspondents is expected to have completed an initial tranche of 400 abstracts within the next three months.
Chris Laughton is a Partner at Mercer & Hole and President of INSOL Europe.
