On Feb. 11, 2009, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit issued its opinion in Hutson v. E.I. Dupont de Nemours and Co. (In re National Gas Distributors), attempting, in a matter of first impression, to define "commodity forward agreement" for purposes of eligibility for protection under the safe harbor provisions of the Bankruptcy Code. At first blush, this decision appears to provide the additional certainty that participants in the commodities markets require.

One of the most significant tax provisions contained in the recently enacted American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (“ARRA”) might prove helpful to certain taxpayers looking to restructure their balance sheets.

On March 12, West Coast Life Insurance Co. added civil conspiracy and several violations of Florida law to a complaint alleging that an investment company, several insurance brokers and individual policyholders engaged in an illegal stranger-owned life insurance (STOLI) scheme. The amended complaint alleges that Park Venture Advisors masterminded and implemented the plan, which involved the sale of individual life insurance policies to private investors, while Wells Fargo Delaware Trust Co.

On February 11, 2009, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, addressing an apparent issue of first impression, ruled that a series of gas supply contracts might constitute “commodity forward agreements” and, in turn, “swap agreements,” exempt from the court-appointed trustee’s avoidance actions.1 The Court reversed and remanded the decision from the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, which had held that the commodity supply contracts at issue were insufficiently tied to financial markets to be considered protected “commodity forwar

WILMINGTON, Del. – The State of Idaho’s Department of Finance has won approval for a court-appointed examiner in the closely watched bankruptcy proceedings of DBSI, Inc., an Idaho-based investment firm. Judge Peter Walsh of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware has given the examiner the authority to probe $2 billion in allegedly fraudulent securities transactions made by DBSI. The scheme involved more than 12,000 investors and 270 properties throughout the country.

Introduction

As a result of the meltdown of the financial markets, lenders are severely constricting new credit facilities and refusing to renew expiring facilities. The Bankruptcy Code's chapter 11 provides a powerful mechanism for an otherwise viable business to restructure and extend its outstanding debt and in many cases, reduce interest rates on loan facilities.

Much is being written about the significant losses suffered by automobile suppliers to both the domestic and transplant automobile manufacturers. These losses are creating alarm among many others, including the OEMs themselves, according to Dave Hannon at Purchasing Magazine.

Hudson, the Superintendent of the Ohio Department of Insurance, in her capacity as Rehabilitator of Colonial Insurance Company (“Colonial”), brought an application for an order, which was subsequently granted, terminating the rehabilitation proceeding of Colonial, authorizing the transfer of funds to the Ohio Department of Commerce, discharging and releasing the Rehabilitator, authorizing the final accounting, authorizing the closing of the estate and the dissolving of the corporate entity, approving the destruction of certain books and records, approving abandonment of physical assets, aut

The following is a list of some recent larger U.S. bankruptcy filings in various industries. To the extent you are a creditor to any of these debtors, or other entities which may have filed for bankruptcy protection, you as a creditor are entitled to certain protections under the Bankruptcy Code.  

BANKRUPTCY REFORM

House panel holds hearing on Circuit City liquidation; questions if BAPCPA to blame.  

AUTOMOTIVE  

Monaco Coach Corp. files Chapter 11 in Delaware.