The German Government has introduced a reform of the German Insolvency Code (Insolvenzordnung– InsO) in order to further facilitate business restructurings in Germany.

In Germany, the restructuring of companies or groups in financial crisis is subject to significant tax risks.

It has become common in financings for companies to utilise a capital structure with multiple layers or tranches of debt.

One thing companies often overlook in a restructuring plan is the role of communications.

Chapter 15 of the US Bankruptcy Code enables debtors that are already subject to a foreign insolvency proceeding to receive assistance from US courts in order to protect and administer their property located in the United States.

The turmoi l that rocked many commercial banks during the most recent recession should serve as a warning sign to savvy borrowers that they must be proactive and explore new financing opportunities, not only to address their own credit issues, but also to avoid potential problems with their existing lenders.

On March 15th, the FDIC published for comment a proposed rule that would establish the priority of payments to creditors when the FDIC acts as liquidator for a failed non-bank financial institution. The proposal also would establish the procedures for filing a claim with the receiver and clarifies the receiver's clawback authority. Comments should be submitted within 60 days after publication in the Federal Register, which is expected during the week of March 21.

FDIC Proposes Rules for the Recoupment of Compensation from Executives of Failed Financial Institutions I hope this does not apply to any of you, but on Tuesday, the Board of Directors of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) approved a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPR) to clarify application of the orderly liquidation authority contained in Title II of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, "Orderly Liquidation Authority" (OLA).

On February 22nd, the Bankruptcy Court overseeing the liquidation of Lehman Brothers' broker-dealer business denied motions seeking to modify the order approving the sale of the business to Barclays Capital. The Court noted the extraordinary circumstances surrounding the sale, the affirmance of that sale order, and movants' failure to challenge the order for one year. The court held that even if the evidence presented here were known in 2008, the result would have been the same, i.e., the sale would have been approved.

On February 16th, the Third Circuit addressed an issue of first impression and held that the discounted cash flow method was the proper measure of damages under Bankruptcy Code Section 562 when a market price cannot be determined. The parties had entered into a $1.2 billion repurchase agreement for a portfolio of home mortgages. On the day the debtor defaulted, the distressed state of the credit markets made it commercially unreasonable for the purchaser to sell the portfolio and the market price would not reflect the asset's worth.