Pre-Pack Pool: Is It Worth It?

Legislators often set ambitious objectives when they reform the rules/regulations of insolvency practice. In order to achieve their objectives, they choose between two main strategies. They either (i) impose new rules and practices; or (ii) nudge parties towards adopting non-binding behaviour which is in line with the reformed objectives, but to a certain extent inconsistent with the established legal culture and practice. This article considers the recent attempt carried out in England and Wales to reform pre-pack practices by means of industry-led mechanisms. In particular, it analyses the changes introduced by one of the key recommendations of the Graham Report: the Pre-Pack Pool (‘the Pool’). This paper describes the mechanics of this assessment panel, investigates its functioning and tries to explain the reasons behind the low uptake rate of this voluntary measure. It concludes by arguing that, to be worth the time and effort already put into establishing the Pool, relevant changes and perhaps mandatory measures may be needed to promote the significant shifts in insolvency practice encouraged by the legislator.