This book examines the South African corporate rescue law from a comparative and functional perspective. The central focus of the analysis is on how the law is able to reduce agency costs that arise in the vicinity of insolvency. Based on the three principal-agent conflicts from company law, this book focuses on the company-creditor conflict in the lead-up to insolvency. Three manifestations of this agency conflict are developed, and it is analyzed how these are addressed by the South African rescue law with selective references to the British, US, Australian and German laws. Given the recent reform of the South African rescue law, a further aim of this book is to provide an overview and examine selected problems thereof, having regard to legal historical and cultural aspects. While the first mentioned objective of this book should appeal foremost to law and economics scholars, the second mentioned objective should be of interest primarily to judges, legal practitioners and students.