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Supreme Court Holds That a Non-Debtor Retaining a Debtor’s Property Does Not Exercise Control Over the Property in Violation of the Automatic Stay

In January 2020, we analyzed a split among the Circuit Courts regarding whether a non-debtor holding a debtor’s property on the petition date has an affirmative obligation under section 362(a)(3) of the Bankruptcy Code to return that property to the debtor immediately following the filing of the bankruptcy petition.

USA, Insolvency & Restructuring, Litigation, Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP
Second Circuit in AMR Corp. – “no make-whole” based on plain meaning of indentures and discusses consequences of section 1110 payments

The Bottom Line:

USA, Insolvency & Restructuring, Litigation, Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP, Bond (finance), Default (finance), Title 11 of the US Code, Second Circuit
Stay here – Second Circuit in Residential Capital holds automatic stay can be applied to non-debtors where action has an immediate adverse economic consequence for estate

The Bottom Line:

USA, Insolvency & Restructuring, Litigation, Real Estate, Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP, Debtor, Mortgage-backed security, Federal Housing Finance Agency, Second Circuit, Fourth Circuit
Tarnishing the debtor’s Halo – police power exemption applied to private actions

The Bottom Line: 

USA, Insolvency & Restructuring, Litigation, Telecoms, Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP, Fifth Circuit
Giving credit when due -- Supreme Court denied confirmation of Chapter 11 plan that precludes credit bidding

The Bottom Line:

In a unanimous decision (with Justice Kennedy not participating), the Supreme Court issued a decision in RadLAX Gateway Hotel, LLC v. Amalgamated Bank, 2012 WL 1912197 (U.S. May 29, 2012), (“RadLAX”) in which it held that section 1129(b)(2)(A) of the Bankruptcy Code does not permit a debtor to “cram down” a plan of reorganization that provides for the sale of encumbered assets free and clear of liens at auction without permitting the lienholder to credit bid at such auction.

USA, Banking, Insolvency & Restructuring, Litigation, Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP, Debtor, Secured creditor, Title 11 of the US Code, Seventh Circuit
Seventh Circuit takes the long view in defining insider status for preference actions

The Bottom Line: 

USA, Insolvency & Restructuring, Litigation, Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP, Bankruptcy, Debtor, Limited liability company, US Code, United States bankruptcy court, Seventh Circuit
Post-script – recent Enron “settlement payment” decision has first beneficiary

The Bottom Line:

USA, New York, Insolvency & Restructuring, Litigation, Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP, Bankruptcy, Unsecured debt, Security (finance), Default (finance), Subsidiary, Enron, Second Circuit, United States bankruptcy court, US District Court for the Southern District of New York
Now that’s settled – Second Circuit in Enron exempts redemption of commercial paper

The Bottom Line:

USA, Insolvency & Restructuring, Litigation, Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP, Bankruptcy, Debtor, Security (finance), Statutory interpretation, Safe harbor (law), Debt, Maturity (finance), Fair market value, Commercial paper, ING Group, Westlaw, Enron, US Code, Trustee, Second Circuit, United States bankruptcy court