Conferences and Webinars

This panel highlights some of the roadblocks that small business debtors face at the commencement of their cases, throughout the process and on the road to plan confirmation. First in line is the definition of “engaged in commercial or business activities.” Central to this issue is whether a debtor needs to be actively engaged in business operations to qualify as a subchapter V debtor. Next up is lease assumption. When is it the right time to assume?

This panel will discuss notable chapter 15 and cross-border insolvency cases decided in the past year, including those involving the scope of discovery available to foreign representatives, § 109 eligibility, and the use of chapter 15 to bind creditors to confirmed plans. The panelists will also discuss logistical and practical solutions in running chapter 15 cases.

Speakers:

Claudia R. Tobler, Moderator
Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP; Washington, D.C.
Matthew Crawford
Maples and Calder; George Town, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands
Kenneth M. Krys
KRyS Global; Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands
Helena Sprenger
Houthoff Buruma, New York
Colette Wilkins
Walkers; Cayman Islands

This panel will feature a discussion with leading experts in the field of Latin American restructurings about the recent — and not-so-recent — updates to insolvency statutes throughout the region. While some of these new insolvency regimes remain largely untested, others offer both lessons and open questions about the potential for a true convergence of Latin American restructuring laws to other more established and tested jurisdictions.

In the past few months, we have seen once-prominent Brazilian companies face financial distress as a result of governmental mistakes, political unease, global decline in oil and gas prices and the downturn in the local credit markets. Most importantly, the Petrobras bribery and corruption scandal has had wide-ranging effects on Brazilian companies, from the criminal prosecution of corporate executives to open-ended prohibitions on future contracts with Petrobras and, in some instances, fines millions of reais.

Foreign representatives have begun using chapter 15 more creatively in seeking a broad array of relief; consequently, parties in the U.S. have increasingly been raising a number of challenges. In 2014, foreign representatives were presented with a number of objections to chapter 15 relief, including objections questioning the proper location of the foreign debtor’s center of main interests and the fairness of proceedings before the foreign court. This panel will discuss cases that address these issues, including In re Octaviar Admin. Pty Ltd., In re Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd.

Many companies operating in and around the energy industry have been adversely affected by the recent precipitous drop in the price of oil, a global trend that has exposed vulnerabilities in a number of industry segments and individual companies. The companies, their exposures and the complicated issues raised by their distress span the Americas.

Speakers:

Jeremy Wessels, Moderator
Mourant Ozannes; Guernsey, United Kingdom
George B. Bazinas
Bazinas Law Firm; Athens, Greece
Luis Martín Bernardo
Abencys; Madrid, Spain
Dr. H. Philipp Esser
Schultze & Braun; Achern, Germany
Tony O'Grady
Matheson; Dublin, Ireland
Prof. Ignacio Tirado
Universidad Autónoma de Madrid; Madrid

Speakers:

John Willcock, Moderator
Global Turnaround; London, United Kingdom
Francisco Garcia-Ginovart
Houlihan Lokey; Madrid, Spain
Juan Ibinarriaga
Bank of America Merrill Lynch; Madrid, Spain
Ana López
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer; Madrid, Spain

Speakers:

Albert Togut, Moderator
Togut, Segal & Segal LLP; New York, USA
William A. Brandt, Jr.
Development Specialists, Inc.; New York
Hon. Shelley C. Chapman
U.S. Bankruptcy Court (S.D.N.Y.); New York, USA
Damian S. Schaible
Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP; New York
Lisa M. Schweitzer
Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton LLP; New York