By Yasmine EDDAM
4 May 2025
When a company encounters serious difficulties, the law provides mechanisms to try to save it or, failing that, to organise its demise under the best possible conditions. At the heart of the safeguard and receivership procedures is a decisive phase: the observation period. This is a suspended period, a kind of parenthesis during which the future of the company will be decided. The main objective is twofold: to establish a precise diagnosis of the situation and to actively explore possible ways of ensuring the continuity of the business, the settlement of liabilities and the maintenance of employment. This guide summarises the essential aspects of this period to help you better understand what is at stake. What is the observation period and when does it begin? Definition and context (safeguard, reorganisation) The observation period is a procedural phase that begins as soon as the judgement pronouncing the opening of safeguard or reorganisation proceedings is handed down....
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