On April 3, 2020, the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) re-issued and extended General License No. 13E (“GL 13E”) to continue the validity period for transactions concerning Nynas AB and its subsidiaries (“Nynas”) that otherwise would be prohibited under Executive Order 13850 or Executive Order 13884 given Nynas’s 50% indirect ownership by Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. (“PdVSA”).

Bankruptcy can provide important advantages to companies considering M&A activity today. M&A purchases of bankrupt companies obviously often feature significantly depressed valuations and a small universe of potentially viable purchasers.

M&A activity that is part of the bankruptcy process will prioritize speed and efficiency, offering a number of potentially important benefits over the traditional merger process, including:

Surfant sur les tensions du marché mondial des produits de protection sanitaire et leurs composants, les escrocs développent les fraudes aux fournisseurs.

Ayant choisi leur interlocuteur et se faisant passer pour un fournisseur habituel de la société ou une société détenant ces produits ou composants sous tension, ils développent une stratégie fondée sur la rareté et l’urgence pour faire effectuer sans délai des virements pour sécuriser les contrats.

Les règles de prudence doivent être d’autant plus respectées :

As COVID-19 wreaks havoc on people around the world, it is also severely disrupting numerous companies’ health, balance sheets, and ability to survive. The impact is already manifesting itself as businesses temporarily suspend operations and furlough their employees as revenue is lost and expenses mount. It is inevitable that many of these companies, especially those that were already distressed prior to the COVID-19 crisis, will need to restructure their debts.

Restructuring Leases, Other Contracts, and Loans

Small businesses have traditionally had difficulties reorganizing under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code. The legal fees necessary to prepare a plan and disclosure statement and navigate the confirmation process were often prohibitively expensive. Further, the reporting requirements and United States Trustee fees mandated by Chapter 11 added significant expenses to the already struggling debtor’s cash flow.

• Committee selects legal counsel to recover debt
• Legal counsel oversees the day-to-day management of the case
• All committee expenses, including legal fees, are the responsibility of the bankruptcy estate

One of the many unfortunate realities of the current economic situation is the likelihood of a sharp uptick in bankruptcies in the oil and gas industry. As more mid-size and large businesses begin to file Chapter 11 bankruptcy you will likely hear more about unsecured creditor committees.

On February 19, 2020, the Small Business Reorganization Act went into effect. The purpose of the new law is to offer an alternative, more streamlined path in chapter 11 reorganizations for small business debtors (including sole proprietorships). When the new law was passed, the only small business debtors eligible to file were those having less than $2,725,625 in debt, at least 50% of which arose from business activities. The Coronavirus Stimulus Bill changed that by increasing the limit to $7.5 million.

The recently enacted Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act expands the application of the Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019 (SBRA) to more distressed businesses. The SBRA gives qualifying businesses and their owners more leverage to reorganize in bankruptcy court over the objection of creditors. The SBRA process is also less expensive and more streamlined than a typical Chapter 11 case.

On March 27, 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act”) went into effect. While coverage of the CARES Act has focused primarily on tax relief and provisions to extend loans and other forms of assistance to impacted businesses and individuals, the law also temporarily expanded eligibility for companies seeking bankruptcy protection under the recently enacted Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019 (“SBRA”).

Small businesses have traditionally had difficulties reorganizing under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code. The legal fees necessary to prepare a plan and disclosure statement and navigate the confirmation process were often prohibitively expensive. Further, the reporting requirements and United States Trustee fees mandated by Chapter 11 added significant expenses to the already struggling debtor’s cash flow.