Fulltext Search

Undersecured creditors may breathe a little easier.  In a recent decision, the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois denied the debtors’ request to use an undersecured creditor’s cash collateral, in the form of postpetition rents, to pay estate professional fees, holding that the undersecured creditor was not adequately protected even though the value of its collateral was stable and possibly increasing.  

Key Point

The mere fact that the law of the country in which an asset is situated does not recognise the trust concept does not necessarily invalidate the trust at least as far as English Courts are concerned.

The Facts

This installment of the Weil Bankruptcy Blog’s series on the ABI Commission Report is the second of two posts that address the Commission’s recommendations relating to postpetition financing.

This installment of the Weil Bankruptcy Blog’s series on the ABI Commission Report is the first of two posts that address the Commission’s recommendations relating to postpetition financing.  This post covers the Commission’s recomm

As a company turns in the widening gyre of financial distress, its directors and officers are often confronted with situations that require them to make difficult decisions. Should things fall apart, those decisions may give rise to claims that directors or officers breached their fiduciary duties to the company. A 

Key Points

  • The principle of modified universalism (being the principle underlying the common law power to assist foreign insolvency proceedings) continues to exist
  • There is a common law power to order production of information to assist foreign insolvency proceedings
  • Common law assistance does not enable office holders to do something they would not be able to do under the insolvency laws by which they are appointed

The Facts

Last month, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina 

Key Points

  • Court cannot grant relief under the UK Cross Border Insolvency Regulations 2006 (CBIR) where it could not provide such relief in a domestic insolvency.
  • Even if such option were possible, court would not do so where a contract is governed by English law.
  • Possibility of effectively applying provisions of foreign law under the CBIR restricted.

The Facts

Bankruptcy courts typically rely on three valuation methods to determine a debtor’s enterprise value: comparable company analysis, precedent transaction analysis, and discounted cash flow analysis.

Discounted cash flow analysis is a mainstay among the valuation methodologies used by restructuring professionals and bankruptcy courts to determine the enterprise value of a distressed business. Despite its prevalence, the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York recently concluded the DCF method was inappropriate for the valuation of “dry bulk” shipping companies.