Fulltext Search

Latham & Watkins Benefits, Compensation & Employment Practice June 15, 2015 | Number 1844 FAQ: Recent Developments in US Law Affecting Pension and OPEB Claims in Restructurings (2015)1 From theory to practice, planning to enforcement, the answers to 42 of the most frequently asked questions can help you prepare, cope, or respond to a restructuring. This Client Alert answers some of the most frequently asked questions with respect to the treatment of pension-plan liabilities and other post-employment benefits (OPEB) obligations in US bankruptcies.

Hybrid US/European restructurings can lead to unexpected commercial outcomes because of different practices in intercreditor agreements.

Double First: A Ukrainian group of companies breaks ground — first by changing the governing law of its high yield bonds from US to English law and then by being the first Ukrainian-based group to restructure via an English law scheme of arrangement The Debate: Chapter 11 vs Scheme of Arrangement The restructuring market has for some time been engaged in a spirited debate about the appropriate forum in which to restructure US law governed high yield (HY) bonds issued by European and American corporates.

Bankruptcy Court reinforces importance of parties’ intent in determining the nature of overriding royalty interests under state law.

The United States bankruptcy judge overseeing the liquidation of MF Global Inc., approved the trustee’s proposal to pay  all unsecured general creditors $461 million. Once paid, this distribution would result in total distributions to unsecured general creditors of 72 percent of their approved claims.

The New York State Attorney General settled a lawsuit against Ernst & Young related to its involvement in the financial statement preparation of Lehman Brothers Holding, Inc. The NY AG had alleged that the auditing firm had countenanced Lehman’s inclusion of certain repurchase transactions as sales and not as financings, which permitted the firm to remove “tens of billions of dollars” of securities from its balance sheet. According to the NY AG, the repo transactions—known as “Repo 105”—“served no legitimate purpose.

2015 Edition A Practical Guide to Russian Restructurings A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO RUSSIAN RESTRUCTURINGS Introduction Restructurings are likely to be a major topic in the Russian Federation during 2015 and beyond. From a legal perspective, the legislation pertaining to restructurings and insolvencies has benefited from a number of positive developments in recent years. In particular, the amendments which were introduced into the Civil Code1 at the end of 20132 (the Civil Code Amendments) and the Insolvency Law3 at the end of December 20144 represent a significant step forward.

The trustee for the liquidation of MF Global Inc. is seeking permission from the bankruptcy judge overseeing the firm’s dissolution to make a distribution of US $461 million to unsecured general creditors. If approved, this distribution would result in total distributions to unsecured general creditors of 72 percent of their approved claims. To date, the trustee has distributed 100 percent of approved claims of MF Global’s customers (totaling US $6.7 billion), and 100 percent of approved secured, priority and administrative claims.

Latham & Watkins operates worldwide as a limited liability partnership organized under the laws of the State of Delaware (USA) with affiliated limited liability partnerships conducting the practice in the United
Kingdom, France, Italy and Singapore and as affiliated partnerships conducting the practice in Hong Kong and Japan. The Law Office of Salman M. Al-Sudairi is Latham & Watkins associated office in the

German Federal Court of Justice decision paves the way for bond restructurings under 2009 Bonds Act.