The Bankruptcy Code's so-called "cramdown" statute provides debtors with a significant tool that can be used to impose a reorganization plan upon recalcitrant secured lenders, subject to fulfillment of certain requirements. In particular, Section 1129(b) of the Bankruptcy Code allows a bankruptcy court to approve a debtor's reorganization plan over the objections of a secured creditor so long as the plan is "fair and equitable" to the creditor.
The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 contains two sets of provisions for managing the insolvency of financial institutions. First, the legislation creates an Orderly Liquidation Authority (OLA), a comprehensive regime for resolving a financial institution whose failure is determined to potentially endanger the U.S. financial system.
Corporate Chapter 11 filings remained relatively low in 2014, down slightly from 2013, due to a robust capital market environment, low interest rates and easy access to financing. These and other factors allowed highly leveraged borrowers that might otherwise have been Chapter 11 restructuring candidates to refinance or pursue other nonjudicial restructuring alternatives. Among those companies that filed corporate bankruptcies, the District of Delaware and the Southern District of New York continued to capture the lion's share of cases.
The Bankruptcy Code authorizes a bankruptcy trustee to avoid (i.e., obtain the return of) certain types of prepetition property transfers so that the bankrupt estate can be divided among creditors fairly. For example, a trustee may bring actions to set aside transfers made within a specified period before the bankruptcy (preferences) and transfers made deliberately to defraud creditors (fraudulent transfers).
The impact of Argentina's prolonged dispute with the holdouts of its defaulted debt continues to reverberate in the context of foreign sovereign debt restructuring. What has been called the "trial of the century" because of its potential impact on sovereign debt issuances — a clash between the U.S. courts and a foreign sovereign — began in 2001 with Argentina's default.
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
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
The last major revision to U.S. business reorganization laws occurred in 1978.
Since then, companies’ capital structures have become more complex and rely
more heavily on leverage, including secured debt in particular; their asset values
are driven less by hard assets and more by services, contracts, intellectual property and
other intangible assets; and their business structures and models increasingly are multinational.
Moreover, there has been a growing perception that troubled companies are
Royal Decree Law 4/2014, intended to promote efficiency in Spanish insolvency proceedings, is officially enacted with some important updates.
The Spanish legislature has finally enacted Royal Decree Law 4/2014 (the March Reform). Now known as Law 17/2014, of 30 September (the Act), the new law implements urgent measures regarding refinancing and restructuring of corporate debt. In addition to formally enacting the March Reform, the Spanish legislature included a few updates that are worth highlighting.
Pre-Insolvency Communication
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