We are delighted to share with you our Financial Institutions Horizons 2021, which provides a snapshot of key legal topics and market trends across the globe, shaping the future of the financial institutions market.
On December 14, 2020, Judge Marvin Isgur of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, issued an important decision in the CEC Entertainment, Inc. (Chuck E. Cheese) bankruptcy case, Case No. 20-33163, denying the Debtors’ motion to abate their obligations to pay post-petition rent due to government shutdown orders issued as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Memorandum Opinion [Dkt. No. 1492].
Elizabeth McColm and Brian Bolin, Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison
This is an extract from the 2021 edition of GRR's The Americas Restructuring Review. The whole publication is available here.
In summary
If you’re an unsecured creditor, it can be harder to get payment from a bankrupt debtor. But to have a chance of getting paid, you must file a proof of claim to assert your right to a distribution.
Richard J Cooper, Lisa M Schweitzer, Kara A Hailey and John H Veraja, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP
This is an extract from the 2021 edition of GRR's The Americas Restructuring Review. The whole publication is available here.
In summary
Cuker Interactive, LLC filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition on December 13, 2018, in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of California.
Ronit J Berkovich and Olga F Peshko, Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP
This is an extract from the 2021 edition of GRR's The Americas Restructuring Review. The whole publication is available here.
In summary
This chapter describes the exceptionally high burden parties must overcome to prove that requested relief in a Chapter 15 case is manifestly contrary to US public policy.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently reversed an award of summary judgment in favor of a defendant debt collector against claims that it violated the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) by attempting to collect a debt that was discharged in bankruptcy and no longer owed.
In the latest chapter of more than a decade of contentious litigation surrounding the 2007 leveraged buyout ("LBO") and ensuing bankruptcy of media conglomerate Tribune Co. ("Tribune"), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit affirmed lower court rulings that Tribune's 2012 chapter 11 plan did not unfairly discriminate against senior noteholders who contended that their distributions were reduced because the plan improperly failed to strictly enforce pre-bankruptcy subordination agreements. In In re Tribune Co., 972 F.3d 228 (3d Cir.
A basic tenet of bankruptcy law, premised on the legal separateness of a debtor prior to filing for bankruptcy and the estate created upon a bankruptcy filing, is that prepetition debts are generally treated differently than debts incurred by the estate, which are generally treated as priority administrative expenses. However, this seemingly straightforward principle is sometimes difficult to apply in cases where a debt technically "arose" or "was incurred" prepetition, but does not become payable until sometime during the bankruptcy case.