Background

Key Point

The liquidation of an agent for service appointed by a Borrower under a loan agreement did not prevent the Lender from validly serving process on the Borrower by delivering documents to that agent.

The facts

A loan agreement contained the following clause:

"Service of process. Without prejudice to any other mode of service allowed under any relevant laws, each Borrower -

Key Point

The Graham Review into pre-pack administrations suggests beefing up SIP16 and creating new steps in the sale process where the sale is to a connected party but stops short of proposing new legislation.

The Graham Review

Key point

Under English law there is a clear public interest in ensuring the timely and efficient administration of insolvent estates and parties should comply with all time limits in the Insolvency Rules 1986 unless there are good reasons for requiring more time. 

The facts

Key point

The equitable rules designed to protect guarantors from amendments to the original financing agreements made without his consent do not apply to indemnities under English law.

The facts

A company entered into factoring arrangements. The directors entered into indemnities in favour of the factor.

Key point

The English Courts have refused to discharge a bankruptcy order made on the basis of the individual's presence in the jurisdiction for one day only, where Russian asset freezing orders had been broken, the Court misled and in the knowledge recognition of a UK bankruptcy order in Russia was unlikely.

The facts

Key point

The UK Government has published its response to their July 2013 consultation on restoring transparency and trust in the UK corporate governance regime. There are a number of proposals to widen the scope of the director disqualification regime and make recovery of losses by creditors from responsible directors easier.

The response

Key Point

The High Court decided how the expected surplus assets of Lehman Brothers International Europe (LBIE) should be distributed between a number of creditors whose claims include subordinated loans, statutory interest and foreign currency conversion losses.

The Facts

We recently wrote about the highly controversial decision of the Delaware Bankruptcy Court in In re Fisker Automotive capping a secured creditor’s right to credit bid its $168 million claim at $25 million.[1] The secured creditor immediately appealed to the District Court.[2] As a procedural matter, the secured creditor had an absolute right to have its appeal heard only if the Bankruptcy Court’s ruling was considered a “final order.” If it was not a “final order,” then the District Court had discretion on whether to hear the merits of the appeal. On Feb.

On Jan. 10, 2014, the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware (the “Court”) in In re Fisker Automotive Holdings, Inc., et al., capped a secured creditor’s right to credit bid its $168 million claim at only $25 million (the amount it paid to purchase the claim). The decision is on appeal. While the Court stated that its decision is non-precedential, it serves as a cautionary tale for secured lenders who also are potential acquirers of a debtor’s assets in bankruptcy sales.

Facts

Loan to Fisker