An important Second Circuit Court decision that secured lenders and strategic investors should take note of has rejected the commonly used insolvency tactic of “gifting” – the transferring of rights or interests by a senior creditor to a junior creditor to gain support for a proposed reorganization plan.

There is growing recognition that the directors of an insolvent corporation owe a duty of care to the corporation’s creditors. Although this duty is not a fiduciary duty, the directors, in determining whether the board is acting with a view to the best interests of the corporation, may need to consider the interests of, inter alia, shareholders, employees, suppliers, creditors, consumers, governments and other stakeholders. Until recently, it was believed that the U.S. and U.K.

The long-awaited amendments to Canada’s Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (BIA) and Companies’ Creditors Arrangements Act (CCAA) came into force on September 18, 2009.

During the present downturn in the U.S. economy, opportunities exist for investors in global distressed asset markets. Purchasers and sellers involved in these markets should be aware of the various mechanisms that are available to transfer assets of distressed companies. Historically, asset sales under s. 363 of the Bankruptcy Code1 have proven to be cheaper and faster than purchasing distressed assets through a Chapter 11 reorganization. Recent cases have shown that s.

Earlier today (September 15, 2008), Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (Holdings), the corporate parent of the fourth largest investment bank in the United States, filed for Chapter 11 protection in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. As of writing, neither Holdings’ broker-dealer subsidiaries (including Lehman Brothers, Inc. [Lehman NY]) nor other subsidiaries (including Neuberger Berman Holdings, LLC, its asset management subsidiary) have commenced insolvency proceedings in the United States.

The Delaware Supreme Court’s recent decision in North American Catholic Educational Programming Foundation, Inc. v. Gheewalla1 addresses the fiduciary duties of corporate directors in Delaware. In affirming a lower court decision by the Delaware Court of Chancery,2 the Delaware Supreme Court held that creditors of a Delaware corporation that is insolvent or in the “zone of insolvency” have no right to bring direct claims for breach of fiduciary duty against directors.