Does a debtor’s pre-petition change of the beneficiary of a life insurance policy constitute a “transfer” of an interest of the debtor in property? Not according to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, which held earlier this week that such transfers do not “diminish” the estate.^[1]

La Sala Primera del Tribunal Supremo ha dictado una nueva sentencia, la 46/2021, de 2 de febrero, en la que se confirma lo ya señalado en la Sentencia 4/2021, de 15 de enero de 2021. Dos sentencias miméticas en todo (casi hasta en las partes).

La doctrina ahora asentada por la 46/2021 se resume:

A seat at the table: this is what you likely want when your financial interests are drawn into a bankruptcy court proceeding. You’ll seek to be heard and do what you can to maximize your recovery. This is especially true if you’re a creditor in a chapter 11 case. Yet a recent decision shows what can happen if you do the opposite and choose to “sit one out” rather than have a say in the outcome of a chapter 11 case. In re Fred Bressler, No. 20-31023, 21 WL 126184 (Bankr. S.D. Tex. Jan. 13, 2021).

Perfect your liens on time or you may lose them. That’s the painful lesson U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Karen B. Owens taught Halliburton Energy Services, Inc. in her recent decision.

Ruling on plaintiff-debtor Southland Royalty Company LLC’s motion for partial summary judgment, Judge Owens found that Halliburton did not obtain a lien on Southland’s production of oil, natural gas, or their proceeds. In re Southland Royalty Co., LLC, 20-10158 (KBO) at 1 (Jan. 21, 2021, Bankr. D. Del.) (the “Opinion”).

Los jueces de los juzgados mercantiles de Barcelona han publicado un conjunto de directrices básicas para la tramitación de los ‘pre-packs’ concursales españoles, introduciendo la herramienta, opcional, del “administrador silente” (‘silent administrator’). Las directrices se aprobaron en el contexto de un seminario organizado el pasado 20 de enero.

The judges of the Commercial Courts of Barcelona have released a set of basic guidelines for conducting Spanish insolvency pre-packs in that forum, by introducing the feature -of optional use- of the silent administrator. The guidelines were approved in the context of a seminar organized on January 20^th.

Una reciente sentencia del Tribunal Supremo (TS) establece que el socio que ejerce el derecho de separación conserva su condición hasta que se reembolse de manera efectiva su participación. La resolución también señala que, en caso de que la separación se produzca antes de la declaración de concurso de acreedores, el crédito del socio será subordinado sin perjuicio de la eventual contingencia derivada de la posible litigiosidad de su cuantía.

In 2019, we began following a Circuit split regarding a secured creditor’s obligation to return collateral that it lawfully repossessed pre-petition after receiving notice of a debtor’s bankruptcy filing.

We have blogged previously about section 546(e), the Bankruptcy Code’s safe harbor for certain transfers otherwise subject to avoidance as preferences or fraudulent transfers. See 11 U.S.C. § 546(e). Among the transfers protected by the section 546(e) safe harbor are transfers by or to a “financial participant” made “in connection with a securities contract.” Id.

Selection of the main judgments on restructuring and insolvency matters.

Silent administrator role allowed in pre-pack sale of business unit

Decision by Barcelona Commercial Court No 7 on October 30, 2020