Christiaan Zijderveld
Advocaat | Partner
Practice Areas
Sectors
Languages
Dutch
English
German
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He assists clients that face financial difficulties. He also assists creditors (e.g. financial institutions and hedge funds) with distressed investments. Christiaan has been involved in the insolvency matters of Lehman Brothers Treasury Co B.V., Lehman Brothers Securities N.V. (Curaçao) and DSB Bank.
In recent years, much of Christiaan's work has focused on cases relating to the real estate sector, the retail sector, and the oil & gas/offshore sector. Recently Christiaan led the Houthoff team that advises on the cross border restructuring of Agrokor, an Eastern European agri/food group. Christiaan leads the team that advises the committee responsible for drafting the Uniform Recovery Framework, a compensation scheme that allows Dutch SME's to be compensated for Interest Rate Derivatives they bought from the six largest banks in the Netherlands.
In recent years, much of Christiaan's work has focused on cases relating to the real estate sector, the retail sector, and the oil & gas/offshore sector. Recently Christiaan led the Houthoff team that advises on the cross border restructuring of Agrokor, an Eastern European agri/food group. Christiaan leads the team that advises the committee responsible for drafting the Uniform Recovery Framework, a compensation scheme that allows Dutch SME's to be compensated for Interest Rate Derivatives they bought from the six largest banks in the Netherlands.
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“Zijderveld ‘offers strategic skills and in-depth insolvency and legal knowledge, including a sense of market developments and changing circumstances. He also provides a proactive attitude.’”Chambers Europe, Restructuring/Insolvency (2021 Edition) -
“Christiaan Zijderveld is a top class lawyer and very practical.”Legal 500, Restructuring and Insolvency (2021 Edition)
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“Christiaan Zijderveld is very knowledgeable, creative and a pleasure to work with.”Legal 500, Restructuring and Insolvency (2021 Edition)
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“Christiaan Zijderveld doesn’t need much information to analyse the situation and knows how to solve the issue.”Legal 500, Restructuring and Insolvency (2021 Edition)
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RecommendedLegal 500, Restructuring and Insolvency (2021 Edition)
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“Clients praise Christiaan Zijderveld for being ‘very good at taking charge in a proactive way.’”Chambers Europe, Restructuring/Insolvency (2020 Edition)
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“He is very experienced in handling the technical parts of insolvency proceedings.’”Chambers Europe, Restructuring/Insolvency (2020 Edition)
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“Christiaan Zijderveld is an excellent, technical and creative lawyer who is very commercial and client-friendly.”Legal 500, Restructuring and Insolvency (2020 Edition)
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“He is a very efficient lead who ensures that his team delivers high-quality work in a timely fashion and he has a great sense for when it is important for him to step in.’”Chambers Europe, Restructuring/Insolvency (2019 Edition)
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“A source remarks that Zijderveld is ‘very knowledgeable and a good person to work with.’”Chambers Europe, Restructuring/Insolvency (2019 Edition)
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RecommendedLegal 500, Restructuring and Insolvency (2019 Edition)
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"He has a very deep knowledge of the law but is also very geared towards getting a solution for both customers and the society as a whole."Chambers Europe, Restructuring/Insolvency (2018 Edition)
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RecommendedLegal 500, Restructuring and Insolvency (2018 Edition)
Christiaan regularly lectures, including for the Grotius/INSOLAD programme and CPO (the foremost post academic legal course provider in the Netherlands). He also regularly publishes on subjects related to his field of work. Christiaan is a member of the Dutch Association of Insolvency Practitioners (INSOLAD), INSOL Europe and a Fellow of Insol International.
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Acting as the administrators appointed by the Amsterdam Court in the suspension of payment proceedings of Steinhoff International Holdings N.V. (a company listed on the Johannesburg and Frankfurt Stock Exchange), Houthoff oversaw the process leading up to the confirmation of the composition plan. This enabled Steinhoff to settle alleged claims for damages from 66,000 creditors totalling EUR 14 billion following from the group's disclosure of accounting irregularities in 2017.
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Advised and represented Finqus B.V. and DSB Bank N.V. (in bankruptcy) on the sale of Finqus' loan portfolio with a purchase price of approx. EUR 1.5 billion to NIBC Bank N.V.
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Advised OLA Electric on the acquisition of electric scooter company Etergo B.V.
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Acted as Dutch counsel in connection with the preparation and implementation of the settlement plan relating to the Agrokor group. Agrokor entered into an insolvency process in 2017 under 'Lex Agrokor', a law passed in Croatia aimed at the restructuring of Agrokor in view of its systemic importance for the Croatian economy. The business has been transferred to the Fortenova Group.
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Advised the Independent Derivatives Committee - appointed by the Minister of Finance - in preparing and drafting a uniform repair framework for compensation by the Dutch banking sector of SME clients that bought interest rate derivatives.
