Teacher Retirement System of Texas plans to reduce its private equity target allocation to 12% from a current exposure of 16.7% starting in October. The planned reduction, which may be implemented over a number of years. For now, the change in target allocation likely means reduced new commitments, while some of the rebalancing could be accomplished by fund AUM growth.

In its decision of 6 May 2024, the Swiss Federal Supreme Court (SFSC) clarifies the conditions for a claimant to appeal an interim decision ordering it to provide security for the defendant’s costs due to appearing insolvent or having liquidity problems (case No. 4A_93/2024 [in German]; intended for official publication).

On June 27, the U.S. Supreme Court announced a 5-4 decision rejecting the nonconsensual releases of the Sackler family in the Purdue Pharma bankruptcy case. The split is an interesting alignment of Justices: Gorsuch writing the majority opinion, joined by Thomas, Alito, Barrett and Jackson; Kavanaugh for the dissent, joined by Roberts, Sotomayor and Kagan.

At the bottom of the stack in investment fund structures, there are generally “real” assets—things like equity interests in portfolio companies, mortgage loans, commercial receivables, maybe even bricks and mortar. Fund finance transactions, though, are by design crafted to be at several levels removed from such underlying assets. With such ultimate assets remote from the transaction, it may seem to fund finance practitioners that concerns about changes in the Uniform Commercial Code (“UCC”) relating to the nature of collateral assets are just as remote.

Chapter 11 bankruptcy has long been thought of as anathema to commercial real estate (CRE) lenders. This is due to the debtor-friendly bankruptcy forum, particularly with respect to (i) the up to 18 month exclusivity period during which only the debtor could propose a plan of reorganization and (ii) threats of a "cram-down" plan used to lever concessions from lenders. These provisions can be, and often were, abused by debtors with no real rehabilitative intent using bankruptcy only as a leverage tool.

In brief

A selection of newly announced legislation and court decisions reinterpreting private law.

Click here to read in Czech.

There's been a flurry of regulatory activity in the UK and Europe over the past few weeks. Here's a look at the highlights.

In brief

A selection of newly announced legislation and court decisions reinterpreting private law.

Click here to read in Czech

One of the most important aspects in arranging any fund finance transaction is structuring the security package. As anyone that has ever looked at a complete structure chart for a fund financing transaction knows, even a “simple” private fund structure typically involves a number of different entity types (limited partnerships, limited liability companies, etc.) organized in several jurisdictions (Delaware, the Cayman Islands, Luxembourg, etc.).

In brief

When would the directors of a company be bound to consider the interest of the company's creditors? This was the issue at the heart of the Singapore Court of Appeal's (SGCA) watershed decision in Foo Kian Beng v OP3 International Pte Ltd (in liquidation) [2024] SGCA 10, which comes hot on the heels of the UK Supreme Court's pronouncements on the same issue in BTI 2014 LLC v Sequana SA and others [2022] UKSC 25.