On November 7, 2014, the City of Detroit’s historic Chapter 9 municipal bankruptcy case culminated with the confirmation of the City’s proposed plan of adjustment (after eight amendments), and the approval of various related settlements. Although little more than a month has passed, a great deal of ink has already been spilled on what the City’s bankruptcy case means, particularly from the viewpoint of the municipality and its citizens.
Australia is a member of both the Basel Committee and the G20 and in November, Brisbane was host to the G20 Leaders' Summit.
The agenda focussed on increasing global growth, jobs and economic stability. Despite the positive G20 intentions, David Cameron was quoted as saying "red warning lights are once again flashing on the dashboard of the global economy".
Turkish corporates have increasingly utilised international debt markets in the last decade, particularly in the infrastructure and energy sectors. These corporates are now under pressure due to recent political instability and depreciation of the Turkish lira. Restructuring candidates in 2014 have included Yuksel, the construction company which was last in discussions with bondholders and local lenders mid-year. Below we take a look at key legal issues for loan traders in Turkey.
The Momentive Decisions: Cram-Down Interest Rates and Make-Whole Mania
On August 26, 2014, Judge Robert D.
On Saturday, June 28, Puerto Rico Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla signed into law the euphemistically-named “Puerto Rico Public Corporation Debt Enforcement and Recovery Act” (the “Act”).
Last week at the American Bankruptcy Institute meeting in Washington, D.C., our firm co-sponsored and participated in a mini-conference on bankruptcies that involve FCC-regulated companies. This was an opportunity to spend a few hours contemplating issues that practicing attorneys rarely get a chance to reflect upon in the midst of heated, multi-party bankruptcy proceedings.
The Spanish Insolvency Act has seen its most material amendment come into effect on 9th March 2014 by Royal Decree - Law 4/2014 . The law now provides for a more flexible system and reduces equity leverage. Under the new law, it is now possible for a Refinancing Agreement (which satisfies the legal requirements for such agreement) to be court approved in a Court Homologation process which will bind dissenting creditors. In practice, 75% of Syndicated Loan creditors can now bind the remaining 25%.
(Ordonnance no. 2014-326) was published in the French official journal on 14 March 2014. The new rules apply to all proceedings that open on or after 1 July 2014 but will have an influence on current loan negotiations. It redresses the checks and balances in place by creating a double-edged sword over the heads of shareholders by reallocating rights to lenders and by enhancing lender led restructurings.
According to a recent report issued by the American Bankruptcy Institute, there was a 24 percent drop in business bankruptcy filings in the United States last year, resulting in the fewest filings since 2006. The larger corporate filings in 2013 were not the typical “mega” filings of years past. Unlike Lehman, Chrysler, Tribune, MF Global and others, the chapter 11 “mega-cases” filed in 2013 were smaller and less well known in the general business community. Among the more prominent were Cengage Learning, Excel Maritime, and Exide Technologies.