Third Circuit holds that State-specific protections in favor of oil and gas producers did not apply under Article 9 of the UCC

In In re Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit recently affirmed that claims filed by Lehman employees on account of restricted stock units (“RSUs”) are subject to subordination under section 510(b) of the Bankruptcy Code.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently held in Mastan v. Salamon (In re Salamon) that an undersecured creditor with a nonrecourse claim lost the right to assert a deficiency claim under section 1111(b) of the Bankruptcy Code when a senior secured creditor foreclosed on and sold its collateral during the bankruptcy case.

Third party releases in a chapter 11 plan have become fairly common in the United States. A recent decision by the Delaware District Court in Opt-Out Lenders v. Millennium Lab Holdings II, LLC (In re Millennium Lab Holdings II, LLC), however, questions whether the bankruptcy court has the authority to approve nonconsensual third party releases as part of confirmation of a chapter 11 plan.

In December 2013, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals held as a matter of first impression in Drawbridge Special Opportunities Fund LP v. Barnet (In re Barnet), 737 F.3d 238 (2d Cir. 2013), that section 109(a) of the Bankruptcy Code, which requires a debtor “under this title” to have a domicile, a place of business, or property in the U.S., applies in cases under chapter 15 of the Bankruptcy Code.

The insolvent trading "safe harbour" and "ipso facto" clause reform

The key points

Last week, the federal government circulated an exposure draft of the Treasury Laws Amendment (2017 Enterprise Incentives No. 2) Bill (the Bill). The Bill is intended to promote entrepreneurship and innovation among directors of companies facing insolvency - this is to be achieved through two fundamental changes to existing insolvency laws.

Anyone who has walked around a mall in the United States lately or subscribes to any of the usual restructuring newsletters can’t help but wonder whether traditional, store-based retail as we know it will find a way to survive. Is this phenomenon limited to the United States, or is the retail industry facing a global restructuring of its entire business model?

On January 31, 2017, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals authorized a court-appointed Receiver to avoid arbitration clauses contained in employment and employment-related agreements.[1] While, at first glance, the Court’s decision not to compel a non-signatory to arbitration appears unremarkable, in fact the decision reflects how far the Court was willing to go in order to protect a Receiver’s choice of a judicial forum.

The decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in In re Motors Liquidation Company is yet the latest case to show the difficulty in using the bankruptcy process to resolve tort claims.[1]

The Background Basics

On October 14, 2016, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) published in the Federal Register a notice of proposed rulemaking [USCBP–2016–0065] that, if adopted, would amend the CBP regulations to reflect that official notice of liquidation, suspension of liquidation, and extension of liquidation will be posted electronically on the CBP Web site.