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Eastern District of Virginia Bankruptcy Court Finds Landlord’s Lender Has No Right to Enforce Landlord’s Lease with Bankrupt Retailer

OVERVIEW

USA, Insolvency & Restructuring, Litigation, Real Estate, Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP, Coronavirus
Third Circuit Decision Provides New Guidance on the Unfair Discrimination Standard of Cramdown and the Enforcement of Subordination Agreements When Confirming Cramdown Plans

In an important decision issued at the end of August, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, in In re Tribune Co., Case No. 18-2909 (3d Cir. Aug. 26, 2020), held that subordination agreements need not be strictly enforced when confirming a chapter 11 plan pursuant to the Bankruptcy Code’s cramdown provision in section 1129(b)(1). In its decision, the Third Circuit also encouraged bankruptcy courts to apply “a more flexible unfair-discrimination standard” and set forth eight guiding principles to aid in that effort.

USA, Insolvency & Restructuring, Litigation, Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP, Title 11 of the US Code
UK Supreme Court clarifies and reduces ambit of “reflective loss” principle in “one of the most important company and commercial law decisions of the last thirty years”

The Supreme Court in Sevilleja v Marex Financial Ltd [2020] UKSC 31 has brought much needed clarity to the legal basis and scope of the so-called ‘reflective loss’ principle. The effect of the decision is a ‘bright line’ rule that bars claims by shareholders for loss in value of their shares arising as a consequence of the company having suffered loss, in respect of which the company has a cause of action against the same wrong-doer.

New Zealand, United Kingdom, Company & Commercial, Insolvency & Restructuring, Litigation, Buddle Findlay, Companies Act
High Court provides guidance on voluntary administration and creditors’ meetings under COVID-19 Alert Level 4

A recent decision of the High Court of New Zealand provides helpful guidance for insolvency practitioners on how aspects of the voluntary administration regime should operate in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

On 30 March 2020, the board of directors of EncoreFX (NZ) Limited resolved to appoint administrators to the company. By then, New Zealand was already at Level 4 on the four-level alert system for COVID-19.

New Zealand, Insolvency & Restructuring, Litigation, Buddle Findlay, Board of directors, Coronavirus
Fraudulent Transfer Claims Avoid State Sovereign Immunity, But Only If a Property Interest Exists Under State Law

In a recent decision, In re Philadelphia Entertainment and Development Partners, L.P., No. 14-000255-mdc (Bankr. E.D. Pa. Dec. 31, 2019), the Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania held that state sovereign immunity does not prevent bankruptcy courts from hearing fraudulent transfer claims against states.

USA, Pennsylvania, Insolvency & Restructuring, Litigation, Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP, Debtor
Covenant of Good Faith and Fair Dealing Examined: La Paloma

On January 13, 2020, the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware issued an opinion in In re La Paloma Generating Company, LLC., Case No. 16-12700 [Adv. Pro.

USA, Delaware, Insolvency & Restructuring, Litigation, Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP, Debtor, United States bankruptcy court
Supreme Court Will Tell Us Soon if Creditor Violates Automatic Stay by Passively Retaining Debtor’s Property

The United States Supreme Court has granted certiorari on an issue that has greatly divided Circuit Courts of Appeal – the question of whether an entity that retains possession of a debtor’s property has an affirmative obligation to return that property to the debtor or trustee immediately upon the filing of the bankruptcy petition or risk being in violation of the automatic stay.

USA, Insolvency & Restructuring, Litigation, Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP, Debtor, Supreme Court of the United States
Denial of Stay Relief is a Final Order, Says the U.S. Supreme Court

The Supreme Court, in Ritzen Group, Inc. v. Jackson Masonry, LLC,1 issued an unanimous opinion last week, ruling that the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit correctly denied the ability of creditor Ritzen Group Inc.

USA, Insolvency & Restructuring, Litigation, Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP, United States bankruptcy court
Delaware District Court Affirms Decision Holding Triangular Setoffs Are Not Permitted

The United States District Court for the District of Delaware recently affirmed a Delaware bankruptcy court case that held that the mutuality requirement of section 553(a)1The case declined to find mutuality in a triangular setoff between the debtor, a parent entity that owed the debtor money, and that entity’s subsidiary, which was a creditor.2

USA, Delaware, Insolvency & Restructuring, Litigation, Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP, Debtor, US District Court for District of Delaware
Bankruptcy Court Confirms High Burden to Find Material Adverse Effect in Asset Purchase Agreement

A recent bankruptcy court decision out of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California, In re Verity Health Sys. of Cal., Inc., Case No. 2:18-bk-20151 (ER) (Bankr. C.D. Cal. Nov. 27, 2019), is a good reminder of how difficult it is for a purchaser under an asset purchase agreement to get out of the deal by invoking a Material Adverse Effect clause (also known as a Material Adverse Change clause) (an “MAE”).

USA, Insolvency & Restructuring, Litigation, Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP, United States bankruptcy court