Plans of Adjustment were confirmed recently in each of the landmark Detroit, MI and Stockton, CA bankruptcy cases. Although both cases shared many common legal issues, they took different paths to reach confirmation. Detroit, which resolved its cases by entering into settlements with its major constituents, provides a potential roadmap for future cases but only limited judicial guidance. Stockton provides more judicial precedent. For municipalities and their creditors, however, the lessons learned from the two cases will surely influence future Chapter 9 proceedings.
Though often overlooked, bankruptcy sales can be a real boon to businesses looking for a great deal. Prospective purchasers must, of course, interface with the bankruptcy court, so these companies must understand the lay of the land when looking for a bargain. For example, in the last two years, Wanxiang Group purchased
It’s always risky when the Supreme Court grants certiorari in a bankruptcy case. While the Court’s opinion may bring clarity to the narrow question upon which certiorari was granted, it often creates a host of unintended problems in other areas.
Vigilantibus non dormientibus, æquitas subvenit.
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Though often overlooked, bankruptcy sales can be a real boon to businesses looking for a great deal. Prospective purchasers must, of course, interface with the bankruptcy court, so these companies must understand the lay of the land when looking for a bargain.
Judge Drain’s recent decision confirming the Momentive Performance Materials Inc. plan is just the latest in a series of recent cases involving “make whole” premiums. As in several of the recent cases, the lenders lost because the contract did not clearly enough provide for the make whole premium in the event of an acceleration rather than prepayment.
A bankruptcy court lacks subject matter jurisdiction to determine a tax refund claim under Section 505(a)(2)(B) of the Bankruptcy Code where the refund was requested by a liquidating trustee appointed pursuant to a plan, as opposed to a pre-confirmation bankruptcy trustee or debtor-in-possession, the Second Circuit held in United States v. Bond, Docket No. 12-4803 (2nd Cir. Aug. 13, 2014).
From the consumer plaintiffs’ perspective, a recent appellate decision in Rundgren v. Washington Mutual Bank, FA, is far from Utopia.
On April 29, 2014, power giant Energy Future Holding Corp. (“Energy Future”), along with 70 subsidiaries, filed for chapter 11 protection in the District of Delaware as part of a deal it has reached through lengthy negotiations with some of its largest senior creditors to restructure roughly $50 billion in debt.
Hopes that certain severance payments paid by companies to terminated employees could escape application of the Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) tax were dashed when a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court ruled on March 25th that such payments, when not tied to state unemployment benefits, were “wages,” and thus taxable. The ruling for the government will allow the IRS to disallow protective refund claims that numerous companies filed after a federal circuit court held that termination payments were not subject to FICA tax.