The United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi denied the motion of defendant ACA Financial Guaranty Corporation (ACA) to dismiss a class action complaint, finding that the issues were previously adjudicated adversely to ACA in the New York Supreme Court where a companion case, Oppenheimer v. ACA Financial Guaranty Corporation, is currently pending.

The United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York granted motions to dismiss involuntary Chapter 7 petitions filed against TPG Troy LLC and T3 Troy LLC (the Troy Entities). Petitioners filed numerous actions against the Troy Entities in the United States and Europe to recover money they alleged was owed in connection with the default of payment-in-kind and subordinated notes.

On April 15 the Federal Reserve Board (Board) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) announced the release of additional guidance, clarification and direction for the first group of institutions filing their resolution plans pursuant to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. These 11 institutions filed their initial resolution plans with the Federal Reserve Board and the FDIC in 2012.

BAIL-OUT DÉJÀ-VU

A High Court judgment by Mr. Justice Richards handed down on January 29 has confirmed that a client’s open positions on trades, made with a firm regulated by the UK Financial Services Authority (FSA) that subsequently enters into an administration or liquidation, should be valued by reference to the market value of the trades at the time of the firm’s failure rather than at the date the positions are closed out.

The Moldovan Parliament adopted a new insolvency law on 29 June 2012. The In-solvency Act No. 149 (Act No. 149), which will enter into force on 14 March 2013, is evolutionary rather than revolutionary, as its main goal appears to be the optimiza-tion of the existing insolvency procedures.

Following the new act’s entry into force, insolvency cases shall fall under the compe-tence of the court of appeal where the seat of the debtor is located. Also each such court of appeal shall hold a public register of insolvency cases.

Timing

The Ninth Circuit recently held that: (1) bankruptcy courts lack the constitutional authority to enter a final judgment on all fraudulent transfer claims against non-claimants, whether brought under state or federal law, and (2) a defendant can waive such an argument by not asserting the applicability of Stern v. Marshall¹ at the trial level.² Further, in dicta, the court noted that bankruptcy courts may issue proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law in matters in which the bankruptcy court cannot issue final orders.

The US House of Representatives Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations (Committee) has released a report on the collapse of MF Global (Report). The Report finds that Jon Corzine, MF Global’s Chairman and CEO, made a number of decisions that ultimately caused MF Global’s bankruptcy. The Committee also found fault with the regulatory agencies, rating agencies and the New York Federal Reserve Board, among others.

California’s AB 506 process was intended to help a municipality in restructuring its debt obligations and avoid bankruptcy. However, the lessons of the bankruptcies of the City of Stockton, the Town of Mammoth Lakes and the City of San Bernardino support the reality that a meaningful restructure requires material involvement by the major stakeholders. California’s recent wave of municipal bankruptcies tend to show that the AB 506 process has not changed this reality, but rather made a difficult process longer and more arduous.

Often, corporate boards do not consider how to handle a company bankruptcy until the moment insolvency is looming.