The history of bankruptcy in these United States teaches this:
- bankruptcy laws can provide an efficient and effective solution for a great variety of financial problems.
But bankruptcy laws, in these United States, face significant problems, and their effectiveness is being diminished.
First Problem
Bankruptcy has a fundamental problem: nobody likes it.
Everyone recognizes that bankruptcy laws are a necessity in our market economy. And bankruptcy laws are even founded upon a provision of the U.S. Constitution:
There are many reasons to mandate mediation in certain circumstances.
- One is to improve the quality of justice.
- Another is to manage an expanding docket and burgeoning caseload.
- A third is to create a mediation culture where none currently exists.
There are two ways to mandate mediation:
- Globalization of Businesses Leads to More Cross Border Restructurings – With the increase in international businesses’ globalization comes an increase in cross border restructurings both inside and outside of courts.
Recently, two significant distressed companies with thousands of commercial leases, Rite Aid and WeWork, each filed chapter 11 bankruptcy cases, seeking in part to rationalize their geographic footprints through the rejection of a substantial portion of their lease portfolios.
Every now and then, a bankruptcy ruling elicits an “Oh, no!” response from just about everyone.
And then, subsequent case law starts rejecting and/or chipping-away at that “On, no!” ruling.
We have such an “Oh, no!” situation going on right now on a Subchapter V debt-limit issue.
New Rejecting/Chipping-Away Opinion
We have previously blogged about the section 546(e) defense to a trustee’s avoidance powers under the Bankruptcy Code. A trustee has broad powers to set aside certain transfers made by debtors before bankruptcy. See 11 U.S.C. §§ 544, 547, 548. Section 546(e), however, bars avoiding certain transfers, including a “settlement payment . . . made by or to (or for the benefit of) . . . a financial institution [or] a transfer made by or to (or for the benefit of) a . . . financial institution . . . in connection with a securities contract.” 11 U.S.C. § 546(e).
Election of Joe Graham to Partner
Joe Graham was elected partner in the New York office. This year, Joe played a leading role in the chapter 11 cases of Avaya, Benefytt and Diamond Sports. He regularly advises on out-of-court restructurings, bankruptcy litigation and distressed investments. Joe earned his J.D., magna cum laude, and his B.A. from the University of Notre Dame.
Kelley Cornish Inducted into “M&A Advisor Hall of Fame”
In our prior alert over the summer, we highlighted the Delaware Supreme Court’s decision in Stream TV Networks, Inc. v. SeeCubic, Inc., 279 A.3d 323, 329 (Del.
2023 Restructuring & Insolvency Year in Review Year starts with fears of banking collapse contagion State-backed rescue deal for Credit Suisse announced 10 March 19 March Silicon Valley Bank, centred in California and focussed on funding venture capital and startups, was shut down by its local regulator on 10 March 2023 with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation appointed as receiver and the UK bank was sold to HSBC over the course of a weekend. Crypto-exposed Silvergate Bank and Signature Bank both followed suit – all within the span of five days.