Insolvency Law in the Global South: Lessons for the Global North

Despite the influence of the Global North in many insolvency laws and practices in the Global South, this Article shows that the Global South has innovated in many aspects of insolvency law. In some cases, these innovations consist of solutions that, with certain adjustments, have been imported from the Global North. In others, they are genuinely "autochthonous innovations" from the Global South. This Article identifies both types of innovations, providing examples from jurisdictions such as Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, India, Malaysia, Mexico, Myanmar, Peru, the Philippines, Thailand, and Uruguay. More importantly, it shows how those innovations from the Global South can help mitigate certain problems existing in many insolvency systems in the Global North, such as the excessive power of debtor-in-possession (DIP) lenders and the disputes often arising when solvent firms file for Chapter 11 in the United States, the lengthy and inefficient insolvency proceedings found in many European countries, the unattractive insolvency regime for debtors currently in place in Australia and New Zealand, and the stigma of insolvency still observed in most jurisdictions around the world, including advanced economies with sophisticated insolvency frameworks such as Singapore. Therefore, whether it is for the much-needed purpose of improving the design of insolvency law in the Global South, or at least for expanding the universe of ideas that can help improve many insolvency systems in the Global North, the Global South-and the Global South beyond India and China-needs to be more actively included in the study of insolvency law. Otherwise, we will be missing the opportunity to learn from many ideas and innovative solutions that can contribute to the improvement and understanding of insolvency systems around the world.