444 enterprises were declared bankrupt in Belgium in January 2021.
Bankruptcies registered in January resulted in 1,002 job losses: 629 full-time jobs, 209 part-time jobs and 164 salaried employers.
The sectors with the highest number of bankruptcies in January: 160 bankruptcies in transportation and other service activities, 101 in wholesale and retail trade, 87 in construction and 74 in accommodation and food service activities.
At regional level, there were 219 bankruptcies in Flanders, 136 in Wallonia and 89 in Brussels.
When interpreting the figures, account should be taken of the fact that there is some delay between the cessation of the economic activity and the declaration of bankruptcy by the business court. As a result, an economic impact is only visible in the figures with some delay.
Moreover, because of the Covid-19 crisis, many business courts and registries operated at reduced capacity andlimited their activities until 18 May 2020. Furthermore, a Royal Decree leading to the freezing of proceedings bankruptcy before the courts was in force until 17 June 2020, in order to protect the enterprises that were healthy before 18 March 2020 from the effects of the Covid-19 crisis.
Then, on Friday 6 November 2020, the government approved a new moratorium on bankruptcies until 31 January 2021 in order to protect enterprises that were obliged to close their doors following the ministerial decree published on 1 November 2020 amending the ministerial decree of 28 October 2020 on emergency measures to limit the spread of the coronavirus (Covid-19).
As compensation for the end of this second moratorium, the government proposed a reform based on 3 pillars in order to make the access to the procedure for judicial reorganisation more flexible by the end of March. First, the procedure would be simplified, by no longer requiring enterprises to give immediately 11 documents, but only 4. The other documents can be delivered during the procedure. Second, the procedure would no longer require a publication in the Belgian Official Journal, which would allow the mediator to meet with creditors in complete discretion and thus prevent them from demanding the rapid repayment of their claims before an agreement has been reached. Third, the procedure for judicial reorganisation by amicable agreement would be encouraged by a tax exemption that was until now only applied to procedures for judicial reorganisation by court order.
Between the two moratoriums, the tax administration and the NSSO spared, by a de facto moratorium, enterprises by not declaring them bankrupt due to tax and social debts. According to the Minister of Justice, this system also remains in force after 1 February.
Moreover, there was the judicial recess in July and August. Courts remained open during this period but the number of hearings was reduced. This is why our figures on bankruptcies are usually lower during this period.
Finally, many measures are also currently in force - at federal, regional and local level - to support enterprises in these times of crisis. For example the NSSO grants voluntary payment plans for a maximum duration of 24 months for the payment of all contributions and sums due for the year 2020. At the level of the FPS Finances, enterprises encountering financial difficulties due to the spread of the coronavirus can ask for support measures until 31.03.2021.
All these public measures described above have had a moderating impact on the number of bankruptcies declared since March 2020.