The content of Article 299 of the Companies Act is well known among members of the management board of limited liability companies, but it is not the only sanction for failure to file a bankruptcy petition for the company in due time. It turns out that in addition to the company’s creditors, the (non)filing of a bankruptcy petition may also be of interest to the prosecutor.
Types of liability of the company’s management board – civil and criminal liability
The liability of a member of the board of directors in the event of failure to respond to the company’s insolvency has already been discussed in our article “Declaring a limited liability company bankrupt. – Does it really protect a board member?”. However, the focus there was exclusively on the claims of the company’s creditors who have failed to recover their debts, against which they apply to a member of the company’s management board for payment (so-called liability under Article 299 of the Code of Commercial Companies).
Meanwhile, regardless of such civil claims, a member of the company’s management board may also be liable under criminal law. This is because failure to file a bankruptcy petition against the company constitutes a criminal offense.
Article 586 of the CCC – threat of punishment and prerequisites for a management board member’s crime
According to Article 586 of the Commercial Companies Code (CCC), a member of a company’s board of directors or liquidator who fails to file a bankruptcy petition in a timely manner is subject to a fine, restriction of liberty or imprisonment of up to one year. The purpose of this provision is to protect business transactions and the property interests of the company’s creditors.
What, then, is the “appropriate time limit” for filing such a motion? To determine this, it is first necessary to examine when the company’s insolvency occurred. This date is the beginning of the 30-day period to apply to the court for the company’s bankruptcy. Only if the board member fails to do so within 30 days can a criminal offense be considered at all.
Significantly, even if a board member eventually files a (late) bankruptcy petition, he or she could theoretically still be criminally liable under Article 586 of the Companies Act.
Release from liability of a board member for failure to file a bankruptcy petition
As in proceedings initiated under Article 299 of the Companies Act, in the event of a prosecution under Article 586 of the Companies Act, there is the possibility of exoneration from criminal liability. One way to do so is to demonstrate that the board member did not act intentionally (as this provision provides for criminal liability only in the case of intentional acts).
Thus, a member of the board of directors has not only the responsibility for the day-to-day management of the company’s affairs, but also for the security of business transactions. For this reason, he is exposed to civil (mainly financial) and criminal liability. The best way to avoid such liability is to monitor the company’s solvency status and react quickly to its loss.
Panuje powszechne przekonanie, że złożenie wniosku o upadłość spółki z o.o. i ogłoszenie jej upadłości przez sąd pozwala zarządowi spółki spać spokojnie. Taki pogląd wynika ze zbyt dużego skupienia się na treści art. 299 KSH, bez właściwej analizy przepisów prawa upadłościowego. W rzeczywistości jednak, nawet w przypadku ogłoszenia upadłości spółki, majątek członków zarządu może nie być chroniony. Dlaczego tak się dzieje?
Pełnienie funkcji członka zarządu to zarówno prawa, jak i obowiązki i odpowiedzialność. Kim jest członek zarządu? Czym różni się od prokurenta? Czy dane członka zarządu są publicznie dostępne? Odpowiedzi na niektóre pytania związane z tematyką członkostwa w zarządzie znajdą Państwo poniżej.
