In March of this year, consumer electronics and home appliance retailer Gregg Appliances, Inc., better known as H.H. Gregg, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Indianapolis, Indiana. H.H. Gregg, which took over many of the retail spaces previously occupied by Circuit City, is one of many big-box retailers that have sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy over the past several years. Like Circuit City, H.H. Gregg was unsuccessful in reorganizing in bankruptcy and is now seeking to recover payments made to vendors and other creditors within 90 days prior to the bankruptcy filing.
In MF Global Holdings Ltd. et al. v. Allied World Assurance Co. Ltd. et al., No. 1:16-ap-01251 (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. Aug. 24, 2017), the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York ordered MF Global Holdings Ltd. and Allied World Assurance Co. Ltd. to arbitrate their $15 million errors-and-omissions coverage dispute in Hamilton, Bermuda.
On July 19, 2017, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals issued an opinion in Arrow Oil & Gas, Inc., et al. v. J. Aron & Company, et al.(In re Semcrude, L.P., et al.), Case Nos. 15-3094, 15-3095, 15-3096 and 15-3097, affirming the Delaware bankruptcy court and district court, holding that upstream oil producers do not have an automatically perfected statutory security interest in oil sold even if Texas or Kansas law applied.
CHANGES TO THE INSOLVENCY AND RESTRUCTURING COMPANIES CODE
The changes to the Insolvency and Restructuring Companies Code, as established in Decree-Law No. 79/2017 of June 30, entered into force on July 1 2017.
Noteworthy changes
A. Special revitalization proceeding (Processo Especial de Revitalizao "PER")
1. This proceeding is now only available to companies.
2. Requirements for this proceeding were revised.
a. For every company:
A common issue that arises in many bankruptcy cases is whether a creditor who refuses to return collateral that he repossessed prior to the petition date violates the automatic stay. In February, the Tenth Circuit widened a circuit split by adopting the minority position that to violate the automatic stay in bankruptcy a creditor must take action, not merely retain the property of the estate. The Bankruptcy Code's automatic stay provision, 11 U.S.C. 362, prohibits any post-petition "act to obtain possession of property of the estate or ...
Financing and Restructuring July 2017 Cases and transactions Dual financing to build waste management center FLUIDRA: Issuance of promissory notes on MARF Agile process to sell production unit in insolvency proceedings Legislation New rules on prospectuses Regulation coming into force on insolvency proceedings and forms Case law Indirect shareholding and subordination of credit Pledging of VAT credits resistant to insolvency proceedings Concept of group in insolvency proceedings Individual legal standing in syndicated loans Insolvency categorization of loans secured with pledge of credit ri
Major changes to bankruptcy rules that govern the administration of consumer bankruptcy cases, and Chapter 13 cases in particular, were recently approved by the Supreme Court and transmitted to Congress.1 After several years of drafting and debate by the rules committee, these rule amendments will become effective December 1, 2017.
Introduction
In the recent case of BPE Solicitors v Hughes-Holland [2017] UKSC 21, the Supreme Court unanimously re-affirmed and clarified the principle established by the House of Lords in South Australian Asset Management Corporation v York Montague [1996] UKHL 10 (the “SAAMCO principle”). This article explains the clarification and the practical consequences it has for those seeking professional advice.
The SAAMCO principle
Summer 2017
Editor: Melanie Willems
IN THIS ISSUE
You Swynson, you lose some
by Robert Blackett 03
10
14
The rule of English law - why Brexit, however blindly foolish it
is, should not matter for arbitration
by Melanie Willems
Unintended consequences - be clear what you advise on
by Ryan Deane
T H E A R B I T E R [ S E A S O N ] 2 0 1 7 2
T H E A R B I T E R S U M M E R 2 0 1 7 3
You Swynson, you lose
some
by Robert Blacke
Lowick Rose LLP (in liquidaon) v Swynson
A case decided last week by the Sixth Circuit illustrates the importance of seeking bankruptcy claim policy amendments when placing D&O coverage. Indian Harbor Ins. Co. v. Zucker (6th Cir. Jun. 20, 2017) involved the application of the insured-vs.-insured exclusion and specifically, whether the policy’s insured-vs.-insured exclusion precluded coverage for a claim brought by a company’s liquidating trust, to which the company’s claims had been assigned by the company as debtor-in-possession after the company filed for bankruptcy.