A critical look by Veerle Colaert and Paul Dermine at the wrangling over the Russian assets held at Euroclear
While Trump’s original peace plan appears to be off the table, his proposal to create an investment fund with Russian assets at Euroclear continues to reverberate. Many European leaders are now calling even more forcefully for these assets to be transferred to Ukraine without delay, before the Trump administration mobilises them with its own agenda – and for its own benefit.
The urge to act quickly is understandable, but it is at least as important to keep a cool head. The United States clearly cannot seize the Russian assets held at Euroclear without the EU’s consent. And the reasons for the EU to leave those assets untouched remain as compelling as ever.
Leuven (Belgium), Provinciehuis, Thursday 15 January 2026, 6 pm
On Thursday 15 January 2026, 6:30 at the Provinciehuis in Leuven (Belgium) Professor Katharina Pistor of Columbia Law School will introduce her new book on The Law of Capitalism and How to Transform It in discussion with the audience and moderated by Professor Joeri Vananroye (Institute for Insolvency Law, KU Leuven). Attendance is free, but please register via this link before 14 January 2026.
Even though capitalism has been conventionally described as an economic system, it is actually a deeply entrenched legal regime. Law provides the material for coding simple objects, promises, and ideas as capital assets. It also provides the means for avoiding the legal constraints that societies have frequently imposed on capitalism. By exploring the ways that Western legal systems empower individuals to advance their interests against society, Katharina Pistor reveals how capitalism is an unsustainable system designed to foster inequity. She offers ideas for rethinking how the transformation of the law and the economy can help us create a more just system—before it is too late.
In 2019 Professor Pistor presented her book The Code of Capital: How the Law Creates Wealth and Inequality at the KU Leuven for a large audience. See here for videos of the event. An early version of the ideas in this book was presented at the 2016 Heremans Lectures in Law & Economics at KU Leuven. Professor Pistor received in 2024 a doctorate honoris causa from the University of Antwerp.
Attendance is free, but please register via this link before 14 January 2026.
Naar goede gewoonte organiseren de masterstudenten van de grondige studie insolventierecht aan de Universiteit Antwerpen een studieavond onder begeleiding van prof. Melissa Vanmeenen.
Tijdens deze achttiende editie geven studenten toelichting bij een aantal thema’s uit het insolventierecht.
De studieavond gaat door op dinsdag 16 december 2025 om 19u, in lokaal C.103, Stadscampus UAntwerpen. (ingang via gebouw E naast Agora Café, Grote Kauwenberg 2 – volg de gang langs de sporthal en neem de trap naar de eerste verdieping)
Iedereen is welkom, gratis registreren kan via deze link.
A post by Rolef De Weijs, Luca Ratti & Johan Zwemmer
The EU wants to introduce pre-packs as a new type of insolvency procedure as a cure for financial failure. The French novel ‘Dr Knock’ provides a clear warning about doctors and medicines. Too much medicine weakens a healthy society. The following contains two spoilers. The first as to the plot of Dr. Knock. The second as to what will happen if the current EU Pre-Pack Proposal is adopted where it forces Member States to allow for Related Party Pre-Packs at the expense of creditors and employees.
The story of Dr Knock
The French novel Dr Knock (1924) by Romains tells the story of a doctor in a rural French town who wants to retire. The ambitious doctor Knock takes over the practice. The main problem is that the population is too healthy. Dr Knock, however, is of the opinion that healthy people are simply people that don’t realize they are sick. Dr Knock then offers each citizen a free consult, where he discusses new ailments and the risks of microbes. Soon half the population is under doctor supervision and the local hotel is turned into an emergency hospital.
Insolventierecht is het recht van schaarste: waar aanspraken botsen en waarde moet worden verdeeld zonder dat elk kan krijgen wat hem krachtens het niet-insolventierecht toekomt. Deze schaarste dwingt het privaatrecht tot zijn scherpste keuzes. Insolventierecht is daardoor een zeer technisch en een zeer politiek rechtsdomein.
Het onderscheid tussen zakelijke dan wel persoonlijke rechten komt in alle scherpte naar voor in de insolventiehypothese. Waar het zakelijk recht een reële aanspraak geeft op een goed (un droit réel), heeft de schuldeiser slechts een hoopvolle verwachting van een toekomstige realisatie (une créance).
Corporate Finance Lab 