§ 200 InsO (closure of the proceeding)

Under § 200 InsO the court closes the insolvency proceeding once the final distribution to creditors has been carried out. Closure ends the debtor's disposal restrictions and the offices of the administrator and, where appointed, the creditors' committee — the insolvency estate as a separate pool of assets ceases to exist afterwards.

Like the opening decision and security measures, closure must be publicly announced via § 9 InsO. By this point almost everything of substance has typically already been sold or realised — closure marks the legal, not the economic, end of the case.

For buyers, the closure notice is practically never an entry point: structured asset deals have almost always run their course by then. Occasionally leftover or hard-to-sell assets (real estate, equity stakes) remain, which the former debtor or — under a supplementary distribution (§ 203 InsO) — a re-appointed administrator disposes of after closure.