Cross-border bankruptcy cases filed in the U.S. under chapter 15 of the Bankruptcy Code on behalf of foreign businesses doubled during 2020 and are on pace to set another record-breaking year in 2021 (with more than 123...more
In This Issue:
First Impressions: Third Circuit Scuttles Triangular Setoff in Bankruptcy -
In In re Orexigen Therapeutics, Inc., 990 F.3d 748 (3d Cir. 2021), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled as a...more
5/27/2021
/ Bankruptcy Code ,
Bankruptcy Court ,
Chapter 11 ,
Chapter 7 ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Corporate Restructuring ,
Debt Restructuring ,
Leveraged Buyout ,
Mootness ,
Mutuality ,
Safe Harbors
To encourage creditors, equity interest holders, indenture trustees, and unofficial committees to take actions that benefit a chapter 9 or chapter 11 estate, the Bankruptcy Code confers administrative expense status on claims...more
It is generally recognized that a bankruptcy court has the power—either equitable or statutory—to recharacterize a purported debt as equity if the substance of the transaction belies the labels the parties have given it. A...more
In In re Nuverra Environmental Solutions, Inc., 834 Fed. App'x 729 (3d Cir. 2021), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit handed down a long-awaited ruling that could have addressed, but ultimately did not address,...more
One year ago, we wrote that the large business bankruptcy landscape in 2019 was generally shaped by economic, market, and leverage factors, with notable exceptions for disastrous wildfires, liabilities arising from the opioid...more
Chapter 11 Plan Distributions Are Not Collateral Covered by Intercreditor Agreement's Waterfall Provision -
In In re Energy Future Holdings Corp., 2019 WL 2535700 (3d Cir. June 19, 2019), a panel of the U.S. Court of...more
9/26/2019
/ Bankruptcy Code ,
Bankruptcy Reform ,
Chapter 11 ,
Chapter 15 ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Corporate Restructuring ,
Cross-Border ,
Debt Restructuring ,
Debtors ,
Financial Institutions ,
Insolvency ,
Trump Administration
Second Circuit Rules That Bankruptcy Code's Fraudulent Transfer Recovery Provisions Can Reach Foreign Transferees -
In In re Picard, Trustee for the Liquidation of Bernard L. Madoff Inv. Sec. LLC, 917 F.3d 85 (2d Cir....more
6/21/2019
/ Banking Sector ,
Chapter 11 ,
Chapter 15 ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Corporate Restructuring ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Debt Restructuring ,
Debtors ,
FDCPA ,
Financial Institutions ,
Foreclosure ,
Insolvency ,
International Litigation
In Momentive Performance Materials Inc. v. BOKF, NA (In re MPM Silicones, L.L.C.), 874 F.3d 787 (2d Cir. 2017), cert. denied, 138 S. Ct. 2653 (2018), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed a number of lower...more
6/19/2019
/ Appeals ,
Bankruptcy Court ,
Chapter 11 ,
Chapter 13 ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Cramdown ,
Debt Restructuring ,
Debtors ,
Debtors-in-Possession ,
First-Lien ,
Interest Rates ,
Make-Whole Premium ,
Noteholders ,
Remand ,
Secured Notes ,
Subordination ,
Trustees
On January 10, 2019, the Italian government approved the Code for Distress and Insolvency (Codice della Crisi d’Impresa e dell’Insolvenza—the "CDI") as part of Legislative Decree No. 14 of 2019, to replace the Italian...more
In This Issue:
Caveat Emptor—Anti-Assignment Clause Renders Transferred Claim Unenforceable -
In In re Woodbridge Group of Companies, LLC, 2018 WL 3131127 (Bankr. D. Del. June 20, 2018), the bankruptcy court ruled...more
The initial year of the Trump administration colored much of the political, business, and financial headlines of 2017, both in the U.S. and abroad. Key administration-related developments in 2017 included U.S. withdrawal from...more
2/5/2018
/ Administrative Appointments ,
Banking Sector ,
Bankruptcy Code ,
Bitcoin ,
Chapter 11 ,
Chapter 15 ,
Climate Change ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Creditors ,
Cross-Border ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Cybersecurity ,
Debt Restructuring ,
EU ,
Financial Institutions ,
Fiscal Year ,
Germany ,
Global Economy ,
Insolvency ,
International Tax Issues ,
Legislative Agendas ,
NAFTA ,
Natural Disasters ,
Natural Resources ,
Net Neutrality ,
Netherlands ,
Oil & Gas ,
Pensions ,
Puerto Rico Oversight Management and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA) ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Russia ,
Singapore ,
Sovereign Debt ,
Trump Administration
With the significant increase in cross-border bankruptcy and insolvency filings in the 43 nations or territories that have adopted the UNCITRAL Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency (the "Model Law"), including the U.S., the...more
11/22/2017
/ Cayman Islands ,
Chapter 15 ,
COMI ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Credit Agreements ,
Cross-Border ,
Debt Restructuring ,
Debtor-Creditor ,
Financial Institutions ,
Foreign Debt ,
Insolvency ,
Jurisdiction ,
Liquidation ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
In Assured Guaranty Corp. v. Fin. Oversight & Mgmt. Bd. for Puerto Rico, 872 F.3d 57 (1st Cir. 2017), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit ruled that section 1109(b) of the Bankruptcy Code gave an unsecured...more
The ability of a trustee or chapter 11 debtor-in-possession ("DIP") to sell bankruptcy estate assets "free and clear" of competing interests in the property has long been recognized as one of the most important advantages of...more
10/4/2017
/ 363 Sales ,
Appeals ,
Bankruptcy Code ,
Chapter 11 ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Commercial Leases ,
Commercial Tenants ,
Debt Restructuring ,
Debtors-in-Possession ,
Free and Clear Transactions ,
Landlords ,
Mortgages ,
Resorts & Restaurants ,
Sale of Assets ,
Section 365 ,
Split of Authority ,
Tenants ,
Trustees
Section 510(b) of the Bankruptcy Code provides a mechanism designed to preserve the creditor/shareholder risk allocation paradigm by categorically subordinating most types of claims asserted against a debtor by equityholders...more
8/15/2017
/ Absolute Priority Rule ,
Bankruptcy Code ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Creditors ,
Debt Restructuring ,
Employee Stock Purchase Plans ,
Equitable Relief ,
Lehman Brothers ,
Lien Priority ,
Qualified Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) ,
Recharacterization ,
Restricted Stocks ,
Risk Allocation ,
Section 502 ,
Section 510 ,
Shareholders ,
Subordination Agreement
The ability of a trustee or chapter 11 debtor in possession ("DIP") to sell bankruptcy estate assets "free and clear" of liens on the property under section 363(f) of the Bankruptcy Code has long been recognized as one of the...more
8/15/2017
/ Appeals ,
Bankruptcy Code ,
Chapter 11 ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Debt Restructuring ,
Debtors ,
Debtors-in-Possession ,
Free and Clear Transactions ,
Liens ,
Liquidation ,
Mortgages ,
Sale of Assets ,
Section 363 ,
Section 506 ,
Trustees