JEFFERSON CITY — Today, January 12, Senate Minority Floor Leader Joseph Keaveny, D-St. Louis, presented Senate Bill 578 to the Senate Judiciary and Civil and Criminal Jurisprudence Committee. Senate Bill 578 would modify Missouri law relating to commercial receiverships, a legal process by which a court appoints an entity or individual to be responsible for property, assets and rights of a business. It’s a court action often made when a business cannot meet its financial obligations. Commercial receivership is used as an alternative to bankruptcy that, while valuable in some instances, can be a slower and more costly process.
“The legislature has been back in session for less than a week, and I am pleased to have hit the ground running with this legislation,” Sen. Keaveny said. “Missouri lacks a uniform set of standard and developed statutes and guidelines for when courts are faced with the duty to administer receiverships.”
Most courts rarely see commercial receivership cases, and existing statutory law leaves many questions unanswered or creates uncertainty to the appropriate means of administering a commercial receivership estate.
“The way the law is currently written creates a number of problems with commercial receiverships especially when complex issues arise in situations where the company is still operating. We need clear-cut, defined laws regarding this practice so that it’s employed in a consistent manner, and justice can be provided evenly, predictably and with the recognition of the rights of all stakeholders in receivership estate assets.”
Witnesses from the Missouri Bar and Missouri Bankers Association testified in support of this legislation.
For more information, visit Sen. Keaveny’s official Senate website at www.senate.mo.gov/keaveny.