In (1) James Robert Tucker (2) Jeremy Spratt (Joint Supervisors of Energy Holdings (No 3)(in liquidation) v Gold Fields Mining LLC [2009] EWCA Civ 173 the Joint Supervisors (JS) of a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) appealed against a decision that they had wrongly excluded a claim form on the grounds that it had been out of time.

On December 10, 2008, Bernard Madoff confessed to his two sons that he had been running what amounted to a massive Ponzi scheme on the scale of approximately $50 billion and that he could no longer sustain it due to, among other things, substantial redemption requests. That night, his sons alerted authorities.  

In the insurance industry, title insurance is known as a “long-tailed” liability risk, which means that it is common for claims to be made many years after policies are issued. For this reason, owners of real estate, their lenders and their counsel have long scrutinized the financial health of title insurance underwriters.

Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals: Insured Can Recover Damages for Mental Anguish under Louisiana Bad Faith Statute Where Insurer Acted in Bad Faith by Delaying Payments
January 9, 2009 | Print this page

Effective March 31, 2009 (not April 1), Georgia lien law is officially set to undergo a series of substantial changes, as a result of Governor Sonny Purdue signing Senate Bill 374 into law. These changes are significant and exist throughout the lien statutes. Many of the revisions require new, very specific procedures and forms that must be precisely followed in order to prevent waiving lien rights. Although the new lien law is not technically retroactive, it appears that several of the requirements could pertain to liens filed prior to March 31.  

The Treasury Department announced that it will purchase $40 billion in senior preferred stock from the American International Group (AIG) as part of a comprehensive plan to restructure federal assistance to the systemically important company. Together with steps taken by the Federal Reserve, this restructuring will improve the ability of the firm to execute its asset disposition plan in an orderly manner. AIG will use the equity to pay down $40 billion of the Federal Reserve's secured lending facility.

In a recent decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, the court reversed a ruling against a D&O insurer in a coverage action arising from a bankruptcy case. In re: SRC Holding Corp., Nos. 07-1327/1335 (8th Cir. Oct. 27, 2008). Click here to read the Eighth Circuit's decision.

The United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Massachusetts recently denied a mortgage purchaser’s Motion for Relief from Automatic Stay of Chapter 13 proceedings on the ground that the purchaser lacked standing where it could not provide documentary evidence showing each transfer of the mortgage. In re Robin Hayes, Case No. 07-13967-JNF (August 19, 2008).

In November 2004, the Debtor, Robin Hayes, obtained a $324,000 mortgage from Argent Mortgage Company LLC (“Argent Mortgage”). The mortgage subsequently was sold and ultimately ended up with Deutsche Bank.

In Elektrim SA (In Bankruptcy) v Vivendi Universal (& Ors) [2008] EWHC 2155 (Comm) the claimant and defendant companies had entered into an investment agreement governed by Polish law, which contained an arbitration clause providing for arbitration in London. It was common ground that unlike the rest of the investment agreement , the arbitration agreement was governed by English law. In 2003, Vivendi commenced arbitration proceedings in London which were still ongoing on 21 August 2007 when Elektrim was declared bankrupt by an order of the Warsaw court.

Sale Hearing

On September 20, 2008, the Bankruptcy Court approved the sale of certain assets of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. ("LBHI") and Lehman Brothers Inc. ("LBI"),1 including those related to its Canadian Capital Markets and Investment Banking businesses, to Barclays Capital, Inc. ("Barclays"). The sale was approved despite the filing of over 80 objections raising a number of procedural and substantive issues. The Purchase and Sale Agreement was subsequently amended, and a clarifying letter filed, to address a number of the questions and concerns raised.