Insolvency law reform in Asia and emerging global insolvency norms

Insolvency law reform has become increasingly global in character as law itself has also become more global. This is in part a reflection of the importance of insolvency law as a feature of any well-developed market-based economy. It is also a reflection of the work of law reform entrepreneurs in the form of professional bodies such as INSOL International and the International Bar Association, as well as the influence of multilateral bodies such as the Asian Development Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the Economic Cooperation and Development and the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law. Governments, such as those in Australia and Japan, have also played a major role in fostering insolvency law reform in Asia. However, the principal trigger for action in this area of law reform over the last decade has been the desire to prevent undesirable consequences of the kind that occurred during the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis. This article examines some of these issues and looks especially at the extent to which recent socio-legal research has enhanced our understanding of these law reform developments and their prospects.