The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced it has reached a settlement with the bankrupt crypto company Voyager over the company’s alleged deceptive crypto marketing practices. Specifically, the FTC’s complaint alleges that from at least 2018 until its declaration of bankruptcy in July 2022, Voyager enticed consumers with promises that their deposits were insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and were “safe.” However, consumers’ deposits with Voyager were not eligible for FDIC insurance and were not protected in the event that Voyager failed.
Last week, in a 5-to-4 decision in the case ofHarrington, United States Trustee, Region 2 v. Purdue Pharma L.P, et al., the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the ability of bankruptcy courts to order non-consensual third-party releases (i.e., claims held by non-debtors against non-debtor third parties) as part of a Chapter 11 plan.
In an important decision for U.S. companies with UK subsidiaries, the UK Supreme Court recently handed down its long-awaited judgment in BTI 2014 LLC v. Sequana S.A., the first case in which the UK's highest court considered the duties of directors of UK companies to company creditors.
The Ruling
Almost 15 years ago, new shale and fracking technology opened areas like North Dakota and Appalachia to significant oil and gas exploration and development, but the advances also created the need for construction of pipelines and related facilities (e.g., gathering, storage, and/or transportation systems) to ensure that oil and gas could be economically moved by interstate transport to markets vital to the U.S. economy.
As April rent came due, we armed you with what New York landlords and property managers need to know to formulate their business strategy. (Click here to see Part 1.) Payment of rent on April 1 turned out to be a mixed bag, with some properties experiencing a high level of payment or partial payment and some not. Payment of May rent is expected to be worse than April.
In this Part 2, we update you as the pandemic continues.
As Venable has previously reported, Hanjin Shipping Co. Ltd. (Hanjin) recently filed for court receivership in South Korea. Immediately thereafter, Hanjin sought protection by filing for recognition of the South Korean proceeding pursuant to Chapter 15 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.
We have all heard that the world is, once again, flat, given the importance of global trade and the interconnectivity of the supply chain. With Hanjin Shipping Co. Ltd. ("Hanjin"), South Korea's largest shipping company and the world's seventh largest container operator in terms of capacity, filing for receivership in connection with its bankruptcy proceeding in South Korea this week, new complications are appearing throughout the global supply chain.
On December 20, 2019, Congress passed the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act (the "SECURE Act"), which codifies sweeping changes to rules governing distributions from your qualified retirement plan (such as a 401(k)) or IRA (together referred to as "retirement accounts"). The SECURE Act, which became effective on January 1, 2020, affects not only distributions during your lifetime, but also the way in which your retirement assets are distributed to your beneficiaries after your death.
Clients sometimes ask whether filing bankruptcy can protect them from Federal Trade Commission scrutiny. The saga of Joseph Rensin and his company BlueHippo provides an opportunity to review the limited protection bankruptcy provides from the FTC.
On May 20, 2019, the United States Supreme Court issued its decision in Mission Product Holdings Inc. v. Tempnology LLC (In re Tempnology) ("Tempnology"), 587 U.S. ___, 2019 WL 2166392 (U.S. May 20, 2019), which finally resolved an issue that has created confusion and uncertainty for more than 30 years regarding the consequences flowing from a debtor licensor's rejection of a trademark license in bankruptcy.