In Short

The Situation: Insolvency officeholders increasingly find their investigations into a company's affairs frustrated by the comingling of records on a "group" server. Claims to privilege by other group entities (or even third parties) are then advanced as an obstacle to delivering company records to the officeholder, leading to expensive and logistically complex inspection and review processes that can be a burden on insolvent estates.

The Situation On January 17, 2019, the Fifth Circuit strongly suggested that claims for make-whole damages be characterized as "unmatured interest" and that claims for postpetition interest on unsecured debt be limited in bankruptcy proceedings.

The Result The court's decision appears to be one that favors debtors over lenders.

Looking Ahead It is unclear if the court's reasoning will be adopted by other jurisdictions and/or in cases with differing factual and legal grounds.

In Bennett v. Jefferson County, Alabama, 899 F.3d 1240 (11th Cir. 2018), a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit ruled as a matter of first impression that the doctrine of equitable mootness applies in chapter 9 cases. According to the Eleventh Circuit panel, "[T]he correct result is to join the Sixth Circuit and the Ninth Circuit B.A.P.

In Brief

On 1 August 2016, six years after it received Royal Assent, the UK Third Parties (Rights Against Insurers) Act 2010 (the "2010 Act") will finally come into force. It is expected to provide an effective mechanism for third-party claimants to seek recovery directly from an insolvent defendant's liability insurers.

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