The court-fashioned doctrine of "equitable mootness" has frequently been applied to bar appeals of bankruptcy court orders under circumstances where reversal or modification of an order could jeopardize, for example, the implementation of a negotiated chapter 11 plan or related agreements and upset the expectations of third parties who have relied on the order.
To promote the finality and binding effect of confirmed chapter 11 plans, the Bankruptcy Code categorically prohibits any modification of a confirmed plan after it has been "substantially consummated." Stakeholders, however, sometimes attempt to skirt this prohibition by characterizing proposed changes to a substantially consummated chapter 11 plan as some other form of relief, such as modification of the confirmation order or a plan document, or reconsideration of the allowed amount of a claim. The U.S.
One year ago, we wrote that, unlike in 2019, when the large business bankruptcy landscape was generally shaped by economic, market, and leverage factors, the COVID-19 pandemic dominated the narrative in 2020. The pandemic may not have been responsible for every reversal of corporate fortune in 2020, but it weighed heavily on the scale, particularly for companies in the energy, retail, restaurant, entertainment, health care, travel, and hospitality industries.
In 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit made headlines when it ruled that creditors' state law fraudulent transfer claims arising from the 2007 leveraged buyout ("LBO") of Tribune Co. ("Tribune") were preempted by the safe harbor for certain securities, commodity, or forward contract payments set forth in section 546(e) of the Bankruptcy Code. In that ruling, In re Tribune Co. Fraudulent Conveyance Litig., 946 F.3d 66 (2d Cir. 2019), cert. denied, 209 L. Ed. 2d 568 (U.S. Apr.
After a period of significant inactivity as a result of the various temporary measures introduced during the pandemic, we are now approaching an insolvency cliff edge in the UK. In this video, senior restructuring and insolvency lawyers from TLT’s Scottish, Northern Irish and English offices discuss:
Additional conditions will be imposed on administrators seeking to dispose of a company’s business or assets to a party connected to the insolvent company within 8 weeks of their appointment, for administrations beginning on or after 25 June 2021. Equivalent provisions have been in force in Great Britain since 30 April 2021.
Summary
Affected sales will be subject to either
(1) prior creditor approval or
(2) prior review by an independent evaluator.
Introduction
Business Bankruptcy Filings
Public Company Bankruptcies
Notable Bankruptcy Rulings
Legislative Developments
One year ago, we wrote that the large business bankruptcy landscape in 2019 was generally shaped by economic, market, and leverage factors, with notable exceptions for disastrous wildfires, liabilities arising from the opioid crisis, price-fixing fallout, and corporate restructuring shenanigans.
The year 2020 was a different story altogether. The headline was COVID-19.
What is it and what has changed?
Wrongful trading is a term that has received quite a bit of press over the last few months, mainly through the headlines generated by the UK Government’s unprecedented amendment to the wrongful trading provisions contained within our insolvency legislation.
But what exactly is wrongful trading and what has changed?
This is inevitably a challenging time for many company directors throughout Northern Ireland and beyond. Businesses have been faced with a quite unprecedented set of social and economic circumstances due to the Covid-19 pandemic and now, as lockdown has eased and restrictions begin to be lifted, the focus turns to how those businesses that have been most severely impacted by this crisis will evolve. Directors are no doubt busy strategising how to best ensure their company’s immediate short term stability and in time their longer term growth and prosperity.