On April 30th, the FDIC issued a final rule that treats a mutual insurance holding company as an insurance company for purposes of Section 203(e) of the Dodd-Frank Act. The new rule clarifies that the liquidation and rehabilitation of a covered financial company that is a mutual insurance holding company will be conducted in the same manner as an insurance company.
On April 5th, the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards announced the approval of new rules regarding the disclosure of information concerning a CFP who has declared bankruptcy. CFP Board Announcement.
On March 28th, the House Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee held hearings on MF Global, whose October 2011 collapse has raised questions concerning the protection of customer money. In her prepared remarks MF Global's general counsel Laurie Ferber described the days and hours preceding the firm's bankruptcy filing, including the two wire transfers that some have seen as evidence that the firm improperly used customer money, and about which JP Morgan (the ultimate recipient of the funds), had questions.
Defanging Stern v. Marshall1: The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York Modifies the Reference of Bankruptcy Matters to Address Issues Resulting from the Supreme Court’s Ruling
In a recent case, RBC Capital Markets, LLC v. Education Loan Trust IV et al., 2011 WL 6152282 (Del. Ch. Dec. 6, 2011), a holder of notes issued under an indenture claimed that the issuer caused the trust to pay excess and unauthorized fees that allegedly reduced the amount of interest payments to the noteholder.
On February 10, 2012, Judge Sean H. Lane of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York issued a ruling in a Chapter 15 bankruptcy proceeding where The Containership Company (TCC) is the debtor. Numerous shippers in the proceeding requested that the Bankruptcy Court defer to the Federal Maritime Commission with respect to the shippers' claims that TCC violated the Shipping Act of 1984.
On February 1st, the Tenth Circuit held that Deutsche Bank failed to establish it was a "party of interest" entitled to relief from a bankruptcy petition's automatic stay. After Deutsche Bank's foreclosure of the Millers' home was stayed by the latter's bankruptcy petition, the bank obtained relief from the stay. On appeal, the Tenth Circuit reversed and remanded. The bank failed to provide the original note to the bankruptcy court and did not provide the original or a copy to the bankruptcy appellate panel.
A years-long political duel over whether California should control local government bankruptcies was resolved on October 9, 2011. Chapter 9 of the Bankruptcy Code provides specifically for the reorganization of cities and towns, taxing districts, municipal utilities, and school districts. California Governor Jerry Brown (D) signed legislation prohibiting local municipalities from filing for bankruptcy unless they first negotiate with creditors using a “neutral evaluation process” or vote to declare a fiscal emergency after a public hearing.
As many of you know, on December 19, 2011, Saab Automobile AB and affiliated companies filed for bankruptcy in Sweden. The company issued a bulletin to its dealers that same day, announcing that it immediately suspended processing and payment of all claims, and it is suspending warranty coverage on all new Saab vehicles. What does this mean for dealers? Every dealer’s situation is different, and each dealer will have to evaluate its own circumstances based on consultation with an attorney.
- On December 20, 2011, the South Carolina Public Service Commission (SC PSC) issued a scheduling order for AT&T South Carolina’s complaint against Halo Wireless. AT&T alleges that Halo, which filed for bankruptcy protection after AT&T initiated this action and similar complaints in several other states, was sending AT&T landline-originated traffic but refused to pay terminating access charges. AT&T also alleges that Halo has been manipulating call signaling information to hide the traffic’s true origin and to make it appear as wireless-originated traffic.