Vendors — take note! The Delaware bankruptcy court in In re Reichhold Holdings US Inc. recently issued an important ruling for vendors asserting reclamation rights.

On May 16, 2016 the United States Supreme Court issued an opinion regarding the meaning of “actual fraud” under the Bankruptcy Code. Husky Int’l Electronics, Inc. v. Ritz represents a win for creditors by making it easier to show that a debtor committed fraud. A showing of a more general fraud, as opposed to a specific false representation by the debtor, will suffice to prevent certain debts from being discharged in bankruptcy.

Background

The Iowa Commissioner of Insurance (the “Commissioner”) filed a petition, on January 29, 2015, seeking to liquidate CoOpportunity Health, Inc. (“CoOpportunity”), a Consumer Operated and Oriented Plan (“CO-OP”) established under the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) that has sold health insurance on the Iowa and Nebraska Exchanges.