The bankruptcy court yesterday handed General Motors (New GM) an enormous victory that may end up shielding the company from up to $10 billion in potential legal liabilities. In his 138-page ruling, Bankruptcy Judge Robert Gerber held that a 2009 bankruptcy order allowing the sale of the assets of “old” General Motors (Old GM) to New GM shielded New GM from death and injury claims tied to defective ignition switches in older cars.
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.
Events are happening quickly these days with Caesars Entertainment. On January 13, holders of second lien notes issued by Caesars Entertainment Operating Company (“CEOC”) filed an involuntary chapter 11 petition against CEOC in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. Two days later, CEOC itself filed a voluntary chapter 11 petition in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois, setting up a venue fight over the bankruptcy case. And later that same day, the U.S.
Introduction
Put your lender’s hat on. Wouldn’t it be great if you could prevent your borrower from filing bankruptcy in the first place? Unfortunately for lenders, a recent decision demonstrates how hard it is to prevent bankruptcy filings.
On December 1, 2014, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Financial Institution Bankruptcy Act of 2014(FIBA). The legislation passed on a voice vote and is supported by the major Wall Street banks.
All bankruptcy practitioners know that a debtor may choose which contracts to assume and which contracts to reject. But may a debtor reject contracts that are part of an overall, integrated transaction? In a recent bankruptcy decision, the court found the answer to be no, at least if the parties are careful in drafting their contracts.
In the wake of the Eurozone crisis, harmonisation of European insolvency law has been firmly on the political agenda. In December last year, the European Commission proposed amendments to the European Insolvency Regulation (EIR). The UK has until 10 April 2013 to decide whether to opt in. Luci Mitchell-Fry and Sarah Lawson consider the proposed amendments of most interest to banks and other lenders.
Include schemes of arrangement (Schemes)?
In Re JT Frith Limited [2012] EWHC 196 (Ch):
- the terms of an intercreditor agreement; and
- some unwitting help from the junior creditors,
enabled a senior secured lender to benefit indirectly from the prescribed part on the insolvency of its debtor.
Existing law at a glance
The Enterprise Act 2002 introduced the prescribed part under a new section 176A(2) of the Insolvency Act 1986. It reserves part of the floating charge recoveries for unsecured creditors.
Since then, the courts have held that:
Summary
On 1 July 2009, UNCITRAL adopted the Practice Guide on Cross-Border Insolvency Cooperation. The Practice Guide provides a useful reference source on some practical aspects of cooperation and communication to deal with many of the conflicts and tensions between stakeholders and jurisdictions inevitable in cross-border cases. To ease these tensions, it is often essential for creditors and, importantly, the courts concerned to reach agreement about how the process will be handled.
International context