CORE COMMITTEES: UNCITRAL WORKING GROUP V
UNCITRAL Working Group V Report by R. Adam Swick
In May 2025, III sent a delegation to New York to participate in the sixty-sixth session of the United Nations Commission on International Trade( UNCITRAL) Working Group V, which focuses on international insolvency law.
The New York session marked progress on two major projects: the finalization of the Asset Tracing and Recovery( ATR) toolkit and ongoing deliberations over the complex issue of Applicable Law in Insolvency( ALI).
First, the Working Group completed its work on the Asset Tracing and Recovery( ATR) toolkit, a consolidated document designed as a practical, non-binding resource for practitioners engaged in ATR in insolvency contexts. The toolkit, accompanied by narrative guidance, underwent final linguistic refinements.
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Importantly, the Working Group reaffirmed the educational and non-prescriptive nature of the toolkit, distinguishing it from a model law. The ATR toolkit and notes were approved at the New York session in May 2025 and formally considered and adopted by UNCITRAL ' s 58th session in July 2025.
Second, the ALI project, which seeks to clarify conflict-of-laws rules in cross-border insolvency, remains a work in progress. The Working Group engaged in vigorous discussions on
several topics, including the structure and form of the project, and the applicable law for secured creditors, avoidance actions, and setoff. Particularly interesting was discussion over choice-of-law issues when arbitration and insolvency intertwine.
The outcomes of this session were reported to the UNCITRAL Commission at its 58th session in July 2025. The Working Group is scheduled to reconvene for its sixty-seventh session in December 2025, where deliberations on unresolved ALI issues will continue.
Along with UNCITRAL, III hosted a cocktail reception and program entitled, the Intersection of Maritime Law and Insolvency, at Akerman LLP ' s New York offices. Panelists included Olya Antle( Cooley LLP; Washington D. C.), Mike Schaedle( Blank Rome LLP; Philadelphia), Warren de Waegh( Erasmus University; Rotterdam, Netherlands), and Kai Yun Tan( Wong Partnership; Singapore). Special thanks to III member, Evan Zucker for helping plan the event.
III ' s Working Group V committee will present a formal update to members at III ' s quarterly meeting in December 2025.
The committee looks forward to sending a delegation to the Next Working Group V session in Vienna December 8-12, 2025.
As always, the committee highly encourages volunteers for written materials for the next session. If you are interested, please contact the committee ' s chair directly, Adam Swick at adam. swick @ akerman. com.
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