On Jan. 25, 2010, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York (the “Bankruptcy Court”) held that a trust deed provision reversing a priority of payment waterfall upon the bankruptcy of a credit support provider under a swap agreement is unenforceable under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code (the “Bankruptcy Code”).
During the past 18 months, the world has felt the impact of derivatives on financial markets. Many businesses have for years used derivative contracts such as currency or interest rate swaps or forward contracts for the purchase of oil, gold, natural gas, wheat or other commodities to hedge their exposure to an unexpected rise or fall in values, interest rates or prices. However, the scope and extent of trading in derivative instruments exploded during the past 10 years, causing profound effects on the world’s financial markets.
PETER J. SOLOMON COMPANY, L.P., v. ONEIDA, LTD., CASE NO. 09-CIV-2229, 2010 WL 234827 (S.D.N.Y. JAN. 22, 2010)
Masuda Funai routinely represents creditors in bankruptcy proceedings in order to protect their contractual and legal interests and rights to payment. 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.
BUILDING PRODUCTS
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency approved the first use of a "shelf charter" for the acquisition of a failed bank, allowing Bond Street Bank, National Association, to acquire a Florida bank that was placed in receivership on January 22nd. The "shelf charter" is a mechanism that involves the granting of preliminary approval to investors for a national bank charter. The charter remains inactive until the investor group is in a position to acquire a troubled institution.
The Colorado Court of Appeals held last month that creditors as a group have standing to sue members of an LLC who receive distributions knowing that the distributions were made when the LLC was insolvent. Colborne Corp. v. Weinstein, No. 09CA0724, 2010 Colo. App. LEXIS 58 (Colo. App. Jan. 21, 2010).
On Friday, the Florida Office of Financial Regulation closed Florida Community Bank , headquartered in Immokalee, Florida and the FDIC was named receiver. As receiver, the FDIC entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with Premier American Bank, National Association, headquartered in Miami, Florida, to assume all of the deposits of Florida Community Bank.
On January 22nd, Affiliated Media, Inc. (the "Debtor" or "Affiliated"), filed a chapter 11 petition for bankruptcy in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. According to documents filed with the Bankruptcy Court, the Debtor's operations include daily and weekly newspapers, "niche publications," internet websites, four radio stations and a television station in Alaska. Affiliated's bankruptcy follows a drop in revenue from $1.3 billion in 2007 to $1.06 billion in 2009.
On Friday, the Washington Department of Financial Institutions closed American Marine Bank, headquartered in Bainbridge Island, Washington, and the FDIC was named receiver.
On Friday, the OCC closed First National Bank of Georgia , headquartered in Carrollton, Georgia, and the FDIC was named receiver.