InDornoch Ltd & Ors v Westminster International & Ors [2009] EWHC 1782 (Admiralty) Mr Justice Tomlinson held that the sale by Westminster International (Westminster) of the wreck of a vessel, the Fariway for the sum of 1000 Euros to a related company was a transaction at an undervalue under s423 of the Insolvency Act 1986 (which, in basic terms, provides that certain disposals made to connected persons for a value less than a fair value may be set aside by the court).

There are signs of hope in the aviation marketplace, with the slow return of financing and the apparent bottoming-out of aircraft values. Buying opportunities abound-but so do risks; and no situation is more frustrating than finding yourself "infected" by someone else's bankruptcy. Even if the market has reached its nadir, there are many companies that are simply not going to survive much longer in the market as it has been redefined.

The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York has affirmed a bankruptcy court's ruling that defense costs advanced by an insurer to a debtor under an Interim Fee Advancement and Non-Waiver Agreement (the Interim Agreement) were not held in trust and, therefore, constituted property of the debtor's estate. Great Am. Ins. Co. v. Bally Total Fitness Holding Corp. (In re Bally Total Fitness of Greater N.Y.), No. 09-CV-4052, 2009 WL 1684022 (S.D.N.Y. June 15, 2009).

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has held that an insured vs. insured exclusion bars coverage for a suit by a debtor-in-possession against former directors and officers of the company. Biltmore Assocs. v. Twin City Fire Ins. Co., No. 06-16417, 2009 WL 1976071 (9th Cir. July 10, 2009). The court rejected the argument that the debtor-in-possession was a different legal entity from the pre-bankruptcy company insured under the policy.

In an unpublished summary order applying New York law, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has affirmed a district court's judgment finding that many of the factual allegations asserted in a complaint against the directors and officers of the bankrupt policyholder were excluded by a prior litigation exclusion, even though some of the excluded losses accrued during time periods not at issue in the prior litigation. Pereira v. Gulf Ins. Co., 2009 WL 1262954 (2d Cir. May 6, 2009).

The Chapter 11 filings on April 16, 2009 by General Growth Properties, Inc. (“GGP”), GGP Limited Partnership (“GGP LP”) and 166 of their shopping center subsidiaries, many of which were formed as bankruptcy-remote, special purpose entities (“SPEs”), raised concerns for the commercial mortgage-backed securities (“CMBS”) industry.

Anglo Starlite Insurance Co. Ltd. (the "Company") was placed into provisional liquidation on 8 May 2009 following an investigation by the Hong Kong Insurance Authority ("IA"). Peter Whalley and Jan Blaauw of PricewaterhouseCoopers were appointed as joint and several provisional liquidators.

The Superior Court of Delaware recently held that a D&O insurer failed to timely respond to it insured’s reimbursement requests and must therefore provide reimbursement for prior legal defense costs and advance future defense costs within sixty days of receipt of invoices. HLTH Corp. v. Axis Reinsurance Co., et al., No. 07C-09-102, 2009 WL 756306 ( Del. Sup. Ct. Mar. 23, 2009).

In Wagner v. United National Insurance Co. et al. (click here to read the decision), the Supreme Court of Nebraska affirmed a district ruling that a regulatory exclusion in a D&O policy excluded coverage for the underlying action brought by the Director of Insurance of the State of Nebraska in his capacity as the bankruptcy liquidator of the insured, an insolvent insurance company.

As a result of the meltdown of the financial markets, lenders are severely constricting new credit facilities and refusing to renew expiring facilities. The Bankruptcy Code's chapter 11 provides a powerful mechanism for an otherwise viable business to restructure and extend its outstanding debt and in many cases, reduce interest rates on loan facilities.