Whether a commission agent may be a defendant in a dispute over the return of a debtor's property to the bankruptcy estate ?

The Supreme Court clarified that a commission agent acting as an intermediary rather than a purchaser of the debtor's property and receiving remuneration for services rendered as set out in a commission agreement may not be a defendant in such a dispute.

Alina Manina emphasized that the SC prevented an illegal scheme to withdraw the debtor's assets, which is definitely a positive result. 

“The scheme is simple: the debtor transfers its property to a commission agent, who sells it on his own behalf to a beneficiary. As a result, no one pays for the property, the commissioner is liquidated immediately after the transactions, the debtor's bankruptcy estate and creditors are harmed. No property, no payment, no commissioner, no defendant. A reexamination of the separate dispute and an examination of the circumstances pointed out by the Supreme Court will definitely establish the truth. It is very unfortunate that such issues have to be resolved at the level of the Supreme Court”.

You can read the full version of the article on the website of “Lawyer's Newspaper”.