Wanted: experts to tackle global insolvency rush
LONDON (Reuters) - There are too few turnaround specialists in the world to cope with a surge in the numbers of companies that need restructuring after the credit crisis, an insolvency expert told the Reuters Restructuring Summit.
"There are 408 practitioners in 11 of the United States' trading partners, 5 of them have 7 between them...Saudi Arabia, for example, has none," said Nick Hood, senior partner of Begbies Traynor (BEG.L), insolvency specialists.
He pointed to Saad Group SAADG.UL, the Saudi Arabian conglomerate at the center of a multibillion dollar debt restructuring.
"What on earth is going to happen to Saad in restructuring terms?" he asked. "You can't do this without the people."
In Dubai, Hood said there were only 10 insolvency practitioners, where a lot more were needed.
"Look at Dubai, it's a mess," he said.
Hood said his company was adding staff, but it was not easy to find people with the right skills.
They had been overwhelmed with emails from "retrenched" managers from the corporate sector who thought because they could run a company in boom times they could also restructure a company in hard times.
"Sorry, it's not true... It's a different mindset," Hood said.
There was also a capacity constraint for company restructurings in terms of getting access to commercial courts.
In Spain, for example, Hood said there was a 2-year wait to get cases to court and it was difficult to get court dates in the UK because it's too busy.
He said the situation was slightly better in Germany, while in the United States it was possible to get in front of a judge at any time of day.
(Editing by Simon Jessop)
