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Fraudulent Transfers Safe Harbors

Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP

Seventh Circuit Addresses Scope of Section 546(e)

We have previously blogged about the section 546(e) defense to a trustee’s avoidance powers under the Bankruptcy Code. A trustee has broad powers to set aside certain transfers made by debtors before bankruptcy. See 11 U.S.C....more

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP

KYC – “Know Your Customer,” or Agent, or Financial Institution, to Qualify for the Bankruptcy Code Safe Harbors

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

Jones Day

Second Circuit Adopts "Transfer-by-Transfer" Approach to Bankruptcy Code's Safe Harbor for Securities Contracts Payments

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The scope of the Bankruptcy Code's "safe harbor" shielding certain securities, commodity, or forward-contract payments from avoidance as fraudulent transfers has long been a magnet for controversy, particularly after the U.S....more

Goodwin

Complicit Defendants Lose, Sovereign Agency Wins in Eternal Madoff Litigation

Goodwin on

Two recent decisions in the Madoff bankruptcy cases illustrate that the legacy of Bernie Madoff will long survive the man himself. Bernie Madoff died on April 14, 2021, while incarcerated in the Federal Medical Center in...more

Jones Day

Business Restructuring Review September-October 2023 | Vol. 22 No. 5

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Section 546(e) of the Bankruptcy Code’s “safe harbor” preventing avoidance in bankruptcy of certain securities, commodity, or forward-contract payments has long been a magnet for controversy. Several noteworthy court rulings...more

Jones Day

Court's Broad Interpretation of Definition of "Securities Contracts" Promotes Expansive Scope of Bankruptcy Code "Safe Harbor"

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Section 546(e) of the Bankruptcy Code's "safe harbor" preventing avoidance in bankruptcy of certain securities, commodity, or forward-contract payments has long been a magnet for controversy. Several noteworthy court rulings...more

Bracewell LLP

546(e)’s Not-So-Safe Harbor: Second Influential Judge Echoes Concerns that Broad Exemption Shelters Pirates

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Delaware Judge Brendan Shannon has joined calls for reforming Section 546(e) of the bankruptcy code, echoing concerns that the section’s safe harbor from fraudulent transfer liability has allowed investors to “loot privately...more

Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP

Bankruptcy Court Narrowly Construes Section 546(e) Safe Harbor

On August 18, 2022, the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Indiana, in In re BWGS, LLC, No. 19-01487-JMC-7A, 2022 WL 3568045 (Bankr. S.D. Ind. Aug. 18, 2022), narrowly interpreted the safe harbor...more

Morgan Lewis

Tribune: Lessons Learned and Relearned

Morgan Lewis on

This is how Tribune ends: not with a bang, but a whimper. The 12-year litigation saga, rooted in the spectacular failure of the media and sports conglomerate’s 2007 leveraged buyout, reached an end in late February with a...more

McGuireWoods LLP

U.S. Supreme Court Declines Review Ending Shareholder Fraudulent Transfer Litigation in Tribune

McGuireWoods LLP on

After more than a decade, litigation resulting from the failed leveraged buyout (LBO) of media giant Tribune Company has finally drawn to a close. On Feb. 22, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the latest...more

Jones Day

Another New York District Court Widens the Bankruptcy Code's Securities Contract Safe Harbor

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In 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit made headlines when it ruled that creditors' state law fraudulent transfer claims arising from the 2007 leveraged buyout ("LBO") of Tribune Co. ("Tribune") were...more

Jones Day

U.S. Supreme Court Declines Review of Landmark Tribune Safe Harbor Ruling

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On April 19, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the appeal of a landmark 2019 decision issued by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit regarding the applicability of the Bankruptcy Code's safe harbor for...more

Dechert LLP

Does Section 546(e) Bar Foreign Law Avoidance Actions in Chapter 15?

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Turns out, it depends on who you ask. Judge Bernstein said no. Recently, Judge Glenn said yes, but only for causes of action that resemble actual fraudulent transfers. It is unusual for the bankruptcy judges in Manhattan to...more

Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP

Delaware Bankruptcy Court Issues Decision on Whether a Debtor Can Be a “Financial Participant”

We have blogged previously about section 546(e), the Bankruptcy Code’s safe harbor for certain transfers otherwise subject to avoidance as preferences or fraudulent transfers. See 11 U.S.C. § 546(e). Among the transfers...more

Jones Day

New York District Court Expands the Scope of the Bankruptcy Safe Harbor for LBO Payments

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In 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit made headlines when it ruled that creditors' state law fraudulent transfer claims arising from the 2007 leveraged buyout ("LBO") of Tribune Co. ("Tribune") were...more

Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP

Bankruptcy Court Denies Section 546(e) Safe Harbor Protection in Fraudulent Transfer Action

The Bankruptcy Code enables a trustee to set aside certain transfers made by debtors before bankruptcy. See 11 U.S.C. §§ 544, 547, 548. These avoidance powers are subject to certain limitations, including a safe harbor in...more

Jones Day

Expanding the Scope of the Bankruptcy Safe Harbor for Securities Transactions

Jones Day on

In 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit made headlines when it ruled that creditors' state law fraudulent transfer claims arising from the 2007 leveraged buyout ("LBO") of Tribune Co. ("Tribune") were...more

Dechert LLP

Bank Customers as “Financial Institutions” Under the 546(e) Securities Safe Harbor

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Analyzing the inner workings of the elements required for the securities contract “safe harbor” protection under Section 546(e) of the Bankruptcy Code, the Bankruptcy Court for the SDNY dismissed a complaint seeking to...more

Dechert LLP

Securities Contract Safe Harbor Defeats Attack on Global Restructuring

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Section 546(e) of the Bankruptcy Code excepts certain transfers made to certain protected parties, under or in respect of securities contracts, from avoidance as preferences or constructively fraudulent transfers. A recent...more

A&O Shearman

Can a Corporate Debtor Be a ‘Financial Institution’? Second Circuit Again Holds That Tribune’s LBO is Protected By the Bankruptcy...

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On December 19, 2019, the Second Circuit held that appellants’ state law constructive fraudulent transfer claims were preempted by virtue of the Bankruptcy Code’s safe harbors that exempt transfers made in connection with a...more

Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP

Former Tribune Shareholders Still Merit Safe Harbor Upon Revision

We have noodled on the impact that the Supreme Court’s decision in Merit Management Group, LP v. FTI Consulting, Inc., which held that the safe harbor provided in Section 546(e) of the Bankruptcy Code does not apply when the...more

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Second Circuit Recognizes ‘Customer’ Safe Harbor in Tribune LBO Litigation

As we had anticipated in our prior client alerts, the “customer” safe harbor defense to constructive fraudulent conveyance claims challenging securities transactions — which was flagged by the U.S. Supreme Court in Merit...more

King & Spalding

Second Circuit Finds That Tribune Qualifies as Financial Institution Under Bankruptcy Code Safe Harbor Provision

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On December 19, 2019, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals issued an opinion (the “2019 Opinion”) arising out of the In re Tribune Company Fraudulent Conveyance Litigation,[i] finding that Tribune Company, which employed...more

Jones Day

Tribune District Court Rules That LBO Payments May Not Be Avoided Because Debtor Was "Customer" of "Financial Institution"

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In In re Tribune Co. Fraudulent Conveyance Litig., 2019 WL 1771786 (S.D.N.Y. Apr. 23, 2019), the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York denied a litigation trustee’s motion to amend a complaint seeking to...more

Dechert LLP

Does Tribune Make Merit Management Obsolete?

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In March 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its opinion in Merit Management Group, LP v. FTI Consulting, Inc., unanimously affirming the Seventh Circuit, holding that transfers are not protected from avoidance under the...more

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