Mediation has become an invaluable tool in large chapter 11 cases.

(1) PST Energy 7 Shipping LLC and (2) Product Shipping and Trading S.A. v (1) OW Bunker Malta Limited and (2) ING Bank N.V. [2015] EWHC 2022 (Comm)

For the second time in the past few months, Judge Christopher Sontchi has dashed the hopes of certain creditors in the Energy Future Holdings (“EFH”) chapter 11 case that they would be paid a make-whole premium worth over $400 million.

The Supreme Court has not handled its recent major bankruptcy decisions well. The jurisdictional confusion engendered by its 2011 decision in Stern v.

Four years ago, in Stern v. Marshall, the Supreme Court stunned many observers by re-visiting separation of powers issues regarding the jurisdiction of the United States bankruptcy courts that most legal scholars had viewed as long settled. Stern significantly reduced the authority of bankruptcy courts, and bankruptcy judges and practitioners both have since been grappling with the ramifications of that decision.

The recent appeal to the High Court in Woolsey v Payne [2015] EWHC 968 (Ch), from the Chief Registrar in insolvency proceedings, considered the application of sections 16B and 74(1)(a) of the Consumer Credit Act 1974, which relate to the enforceability of loans made for business purposes and/or in the course of a business.

The Insolvency Service has published its insolvency statistics for Q1 2015 which show that personal insolvencies were at the lowest level since Q4 2005.  In the 12 months ending Q1 2015, 1 in 478 adults (just over 0.2% of the adult population) became insolvent.  This was the lowest rate since the 12 months ending Q1 2006.

Judge Robert Gerber ruled last week that General Motors LLC (“New GM”), the entity formed in 2009 to acquire the assets of General Motors Corporation (“Old GM”), is shielded from a substantial portion of the lawsuits based on ignition switch defects in cars manufactured prior to New GM’s acquisition of the assets of Old GM in 2009.

Judge Christopher Sontchi issued a notable opinion last week in the bankruptcy case of Energy Future Holdings Corp., et al. (“EFH”), Case No. 14-10979 (D. Del.), ruling that the repayment in full of certain senior secured notes did not trigger an obligation by the debtors to pay a make-whole premium.

Amendments to the Law on the Legal Status of Aliens

The draft amendments to the Law on the Legal Status of Aliens (hereinafter – the Law) aim to ensure more effective control of the migration of the aliens that are posing risk, to reduce the threat of their temporary or permanent residency in Lithuania, as well to establish an order for the urgent issuance of residence permits in the Republic of Lithuania.