Debt-for-equity swaps and debt exchanges are common features of out-of-court as well as chapter 11 restructurings. For publicly traded securities, out-of-court restructurings in the form of "exchange offers" or "tender offers" are, absent an exemption, subject to the rules governing an issuance of new securities under the Securities Exchange Act of 1933 (the "SEA") as well as the SEA tender offer rules.

In a case of first impression, the Ninth Circuit held that the unsecured portion of a secured debt, for which the 

If your small business is struggling with debt, bankruptcy relief may be an option.

You’re lying awake at night wondering how you’re going to make payroll.  Many of your suppliers are threatening to switch you to cash on delivery (COD) or to cancel your account all together.  You know the IRS will soon be knocking on your door to collect taxes.  You’re in financial trouble and you think, “What am I going to do?”

As Ursula the Sea Witch once said “Life’s full of tough choices, isn’t it?”  The Sixth Circuit was recently faced with its own “tough choice” on choice of law in Sutherland v. DCC Litigation Facility, Inc., No. 13-1497 (6th Cir. Feb.

On March 10, 2015, the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama issued a memorandum decision in the case of Harrelson v. DSS, Inc. (No. 14-mc-03675), declining to withdraw the reference from the bankruptcy court and holding that the existence of an arbitration agreement and a class action waiver in that arbitration agreement did not require substantial consideration of the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA).

Facts

A commercial landlord’s failure to terminate properly a commercial lease can lead to long drawn-out legal battles between the commercial landlord and tenant, before and after the tenant files for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.  In particular, a commercial landlord’s failure to elect and effectively pursue its remedy of lease termination may preclude any subsequent action in bankruptcy to gain possession of the premises even after a writ of possession has issued.

The realities of the bankruptcy venue provisions require potential debtors and their advisers to prudently weigh the legal significance of a bankruptcy filing in various courts. In a recent decision, U.S.

Bankruptcy. A word that provokes more fear, loathing and foreboding failure than “world premiere” does to certain silver-haired symphony subscribers hoping to snooze again to Brahms. And no wonder when even venerable performing arts companies from the Philadelphia Orchestra to New York City Opera have gone through the reorganization wringer – and not always successfully.

The trustee for the liquidation of MF Global Inc. is seeking permission from the bankruptcy judge overseeing the firm’s dissolution to make a distribution of US $461 million to unsecured general creditors. If approved, this distribution would result in total distributions to unsecured general creditors of 72 percent of their approved claims. To date, the trustee has distributed 100 percent of approved claims of MF Global’s customers (totaling US $6.7 billion), and 100 percent of approved secured, priority and administrative claims.

Filing an involuntary bankruptcy petition is an alternative not often considered by creditors. However, faced with the possibility of having to write-off a claim, a creditor may choose to file an involuntary bankruptcy petition in order to put the debtor under the control of the Bankruptcy Code and the bankruptcy court. Such a move comes with risk, and a recent Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals decision may expand that risk.