by DLA Piper - Thomas Califano, Partner Over the last several years, a wide range of healthcare companies, among them hospitals, home health agencies and continuing care facilities, have faced financial distress as a result of declining revenues, high operating costs, reduction in reimbursements rates and increasing competition. Seeking relief, many hospitals and other healthcare companies are commencing chapter 11 cases and selling their assets to third parties in order to shed liabilities and facilitate an orderly transfer of their assets.

THE INTERNATIONAL SCENE: Can Chapter 15 Be an Ally to Bondholders in Foreign Insolvency Cases? (citation: George W. Shuster, Jr. and Benjamin W. Loveland, Can Chapter 15 Be an Ally to Bondholders in Foreign Insolvency Cases?, XXXIII ABI Journal 8, 50-51, 91-92, August 2014) - George W. Shuster, Jr. and Benjamin W. Loveland

Puerto Rico is facing an impending fiscal crisis, brought on by the island’s US$73 billion in municipal debt. While the government is actively implementing reforms and engaging in tax hikes to address its overwhelming debt, such efforts are not likely to be sufficient, and with the upcoming maturity of Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority’s (PREPA) bank credit lines in August, there is a very real possibility that the entity will default on its debt.

Canadian entities that could be subject to the U.S. Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), which takes effect July 1, 2014, will be interested in the CRA’s new guidance on Canada’s intergovernmental agreement (IGA) with the United States. This much-anticipated guidance provides needed clarity to help financial institutions and their advisors understand and comply with their due diligence and reporting obligations under the IGA.

On June 19, 2014, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York in In re Octaviar Admin. Pty Ltd, Case No. 14-10438 (SCC) (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. June 19, 2014), ECF No. 18, granted the Foreign Representatives’ petition for recognition of the Australian liquidation proceeding of Octaviar Administration Pty Ltd (in liquidation) (“Octaviar”) pursuant to Chapter 15 of the Bankruptcy Code based on the presence of "property in the United States" in the form of: (i) claims and causes of action against U.S. defendants and (ii) a retainer held by Octaviar’s U.S. counsel.

Can a Foreign Issuer Participate and Present in Meetings with the Investment Community in the United States? As long as a foreign issuer is careful that no activities will constitute an offer or a sale of its securities under U.S. securities laws, it may present to the U.S. investment community. An offer is defined very broadly, and includes every attempt to offer or sell, or solicitation of an offer to buy, securities of the issuer.

Paul Omar writes on how the courts in Jersey have begun to take into account creditors’ interests within the just and equitable winding up procedure. In Jersey, many modern statutes, particularly in the commercial law arena, are modelled on their equivalents in the United Kingdom.

On June 6, 2014, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit held that a trademark license agreement that Interstate Bakeries Corporation (“IBC”) entered with Lewis Brothers Bakeries, Inc. (“LBB”) as part of a sale of certain business lines was not executory and that IBC therefore could not reject the agreement under § 365(a) of the Bankruptcy Code. Click here to read more

The Opinion provides jurisdictional and procedural guidance for bankruptcy courts and litigants, and is significant because the Supreme Court provides an important clarification concerning Stern’s scope and meaning. Click here to read more

By: David H. Conaway, Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit (Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Puerto Rico) on July 24, 2013 ruled that Sun Capital Partners was jointly liable with one of its portfolio companies for a $4.5 million withdrawal liability from a multiemployer pension plan.