In a groundbreaking decision of particular importance to participants in Chapter 15 proceedings, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued an opinion making clear that defendants in Chapter 15 proceedings may have Safe Harbor defenses even when a liquidator brings non-U.S. common law claims. This decision, issued on August 5, 2025 in Fairfield Sentry, holds that when a liquidator uses a US Bankruptcy Court to pursue non-U.S. common law claims, it must abide by the safe harbor afforded by Section 546(e) of the U.S.

The Supreme Court recently denied certiorari in Picard v. Citibank, in which the petitioner sought review of a Second Circuit decision on a seemingly obscure point of law: the pleading burden for “good faith” under Section 550 of the Bankruptcy Code. The Second Circuit’s decision is part of, and highlights, a larger, systemic problem in the evolution of bankruptcy law over the last decade—the multiplication of trustee-friendly interpretations of the Bankruptcy Code that, when combined, leave innocent subsequent transferees unfairly vulnerable to meritless clawback suits.