Introduction & Key Takeaways - The year 2024 ended with some major legal fireworks, as two important courts issued contrasting New Year’s Eve decisions on the validity of “uptier” liability management transactions that have...more
Until recently, two of the most important cases interpreting the Bankruptcy Code’s “safe harbor” provisions appeared to be in potential tension. First, in the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2018 Merit Management decision, the Supreme...more
10/1/2024
/ Bankruptcy Code ,
Chapter 11 ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Financial Transactions ,
Liquidation ,
Parent Corporation ,
Recapitalization ,
Safe Harbors ,
Securities ,
Trustees
Parties structuring certain financial transactions to comply with the Bankruptcy Code safe harbor provisions, including protections from the avoidance powers in Section 548 of the Bankruptcy Code, must be cognizant of recent...more
Guaranties are a common feature in fund finance transactions. Particularly in NAV loans, upstream and affiliate (or “sideways”) guaranties are used. Below we discuss some of the context for the use of these types of...more
5/19/2023
/ Borrowers ,
Credit Agreements ,
Credit Facilities ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Financing ,
Investment Funds ,
Investment Management ,
Lenders ,
Loan Guaranties ,
Loans ,
NAV
Since 1993, decisions out of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York consistently adopted the aggregate “rent approach” for calculating lease rejection damages in bankruptcy proceedings. But in...more
As many parties expected, on March 17, 2023 SVB Financial Group (“SVB Financial” or the “Debtor”) the holding company for Silicon Valley Bank, commenced a case under chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (the...more
3/22/2023
/ Bankruptcy Code ,
Banks ,
Chapter 11 ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Deposit Accounts ,
Depository Institutions ,
FDIC ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Insolvency ,
Receivership ,
Silicon Valley
A lot of ink has been spilled in the last 72 hours regarding the historic developments involving Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. Our quick summary of the facts and law is below. Cadwalader will continue to monitor...more
In Kelley v. Safe Harbor Managed Account 101, Ltd., the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals endorsed a broad view of parties protected from avoidance claims related to certain derivative and financial contracts (“QFCs”),...more
On August 11, 2020, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed lower court decisions rejecting Lehman Brothers Special Financing Inc.’s (“LBSF”) attempt to recover nearly $1 billion in payments to...more
On December 19, 2019, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (the “Second Circuit”) affirmed a ruling of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (the “District Court”)...more
1/8/2020
/ Acquisitions ,
Appeals ,
Bankruptcy Code ,
Chapter 11 ,
Clearing Agencies ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Contract Terms ,
Creditors ,
Debt Restructuring ,
Financial Institutions ,
Fraudulent Conveyance ,
Intermediaries ,
Leveraged Buyout ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Safe Harbors ,
Section 546(e) ,
Securities Transactions ,
Shareholders ,
Unsecured Debt
On August 9, 2019, in a unanimous decision (written by a former bankruptcy judge), the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the confirmation of the Peabody Energy Chapter 11 plan (“Plan”) with a prominent backstopped...more
9/11/2019
/ Adversary Proceedings ,
Appeals ,
Backstop Agreements ,
Bankruptcy Code ,
Bankruptcy Court ,
Chapter 11 ,
Coal Industry ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Debt Restructuring ,
Debtors ,
Energy Sector ,
Equitable Mootness ,
Good Faith ,
Judgment on the Merits ,
Offerings ,
Peabody Energy ,
Preferred Shares ,
Private Placements ,
Pro Rata Allocation Rule ,
Reorganizations ,
Sales of Securities ,
Secured Debt ,
Securities Regulation ,
Unsecured Debt
In Mission Product Holdings, the Supreme Court Endorses “Rejection-as-Breach” Rule and Interprets Broadly the Contract Rights that Survive Rejection -
On May 20, 2019, the United States Supreme Court resolved one of the...more
6/3/2019
/ Bankruptcy Code ,
Breach of Contract ,
Certiorari ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Debtors ,
IP License ,
License Termination ,
Licensees ,
Manufacturers ,
Mission Product Holdings Inc v Tempnology LLC ,
SCOTUS ,
Section 365 ,
Trademark Licenses
On March 18, 2019, Judge Stuart M. Bernstein of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York issued a decision enforcing a mortgage lender’s claim for a prepayment premium (a/k/a make-whole or...more
3/28/2019
/ Acceleration ,
Bankruptcy Court ,
Chapter 11 ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Default ,
Loan Agreements ,
Make-Whole Premium ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
Mortgages ,
Prepayments