Earlier this year, we highlighted the US Supreme Court’s grant of certiorari in Siegel v. Fitzgerald (In re Circuit City Stores, Inc.) to determine whether a 2017 statute that increased Chapter 11 quarterly fees was constitutional. The Supreme Court has spoken and deemed the increase unconstitutional under the Bankruptcy Clause, which requires that bankruptcy laws be uniform.

On 28 January 2022, the government of the Republic of South Africa promulgated the Financial Sector Laws Amendment Act, No. 23 of 2021 (the "FSLAA"). However, not all of its provisions have come into force. To date, sections 2, 3, 12 and 58 of the FSLAA have come into effect. The FSLAA aims to, amongst other things, introduce South Africa‘s first comprehensive deposit insurance scheme that will ensure that depositors are paid their funds when a bank fails.

An insolvency moratorium first introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic applies to nearly all Russian legal entities, individuals, and sole entrepreneurs, and bans the commencement of insolvency proceedings against Russian obligors.

It begins with an awkward mouthful. Outside a bankruptcy brief, is “unimpairment” even a word? (No, per Merriam-Webster.) Inside Chapter 11, it’s much more: a trend.

Want to refinance your bonds cheaply? Are you an otherwise sound and solvent business, forced into bankruptcy by a massive fire (PG&E), persistent low commodity pricing (Ultra Petroleum), or a pandemic (Hertz, whose airport rental business was shuttered in 2020 by COVID-19)?

Or would you just prefer to boost your stock value by lowering your coupon?

Historically, the French restructuring system has always been perceived as a debtor-friendly system. In recent years, however, changes to the French legislation have favoured creditors' interests and the courts have favoured a number of lender-led restructures, enabling lenders to take control of the debtor from its existing shareholders.

Lock-up agreements typically involve the company's creditors committing in advance to vote at the relevant class meeting in favour of the contemplated scheme. Lock-up agreements serve an important commercial purpose of either securing support or giving an indicator as to likely support for the scheme before the parties incur the time and expense in finalising the negotiation process of the scheme.

This is how Tribune ends: not with a bang, but a whimper. The 12-year litigation saga, rooted in the spectacular failure of the media and sports conglomerate’s 2007 leveraged buyout, reached an end in late February with a curt “cert. denied” from the US Supreme Court.

Morgan Lewis was one of the firms that captained the defense for Tribune’s former shareholders. This post notes some lessons that we learned—and relearned.

Lesson One: Section 546(e)’s ‘New’ Safe Harbor

In order to encourage the promotion and specialized attention of corporate restructurings and insolvency proceedings, by agreement of the Plenary of the Federal Judiciary Council of Mexico, two district courts specialized in commercial bankruptcy matters (concursos mercantiles) have been created, located in Mexico City.

Courts in Commercial Bankruptcy Matters

The US Supreme Court tends to hear a couple of bankruptcy cases per term. Most of these cases deal with interpreting provisions of the Bankruptcy Code. However, every few years or so, the Supreme Court decides a constitutional issue in bankruptcy. Some are agita-inducing (Northern Pipeline, Stern), some less so (Katz). The upcoming case is a little more nuanced, but could have major consequences.

Insight

Consider a lender that extends a term loan in the amount of $1 million to an entity debtor. The loan is guaranteed by the debtor’s owner. If both the debtor and the guarantor become subject to bankruptcy cases, it is settled that the lender has a claim of $1 million (ignoring interest and expenses) in each bankruptcy case. However, the lender cannot recover more than $1 million in total in the two cases combined. (Ivanhoe Building & Loan Ass'n of Newark, NJ v. Orr, 295 U.S. 243 (1935).)