Payments owed to a shareholder by a bankrupt debtor, which are not quite dividends but which certainly look a lot like dividends, should be treated like the equity interests of a shareholder and subordinated to claims by creditors of the debtor,” held the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on Sept. 3, 2019. In re Linn Energy, LLC, 2019 WL 4149481 (5th Cir. Sept. 3, 2019).

A credit-bidding lender (“Lender”) acquired a debtor’s assets “in ‘good faith’ and ‘without collusion,’ the purchase price ‘was not controlled by any agreement among potential bidders,’ and [Lender] had not ‘engaged in any conduct that would cause or permit the Purchase Agreement to be avoided or costs and damages to be imposed under section 363(n) of the Bankruptcy Code,’” held the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York on Sept. 10, 2019. In re Waypoint Leasing Holdings, Ltd., 2019 WL 4273889, *11 (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. Sept. 10, 2019).

“[A] party moving for substantive consolidation must provide notice of the motion to the creditors of a putative consolidated non-debtor,” held the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on Sept. 9, 2019. In re Mihranian, 2019 WL 4252115 (9th Cir. Sept. 9, 2019) (emphasis added).

El Tribunal Supremo dictó el pasado 2 de julio una sentencia pionera en la que se abordan los requisitos para conseguir la liberación de deudas a través del mecanismo de la llamada segunda oportunidad. En nuestro ordenamiento se conoce a la segunda oportunidad como beneficio de exoneración del pasivo insatisfecho (BEPI) y es una herramienta que pueden utilizar las personas físicas (empresarios, autónomos o consumidores fuertemente endeudados) para liberarse de sus deudas, que les serán condonadas, permitiéndoles emprender nuevos proyectos.

“… [P]ayments owed to a shareholder by a bankrupt debtor, which are not quite dividends but which certainly look a lot like dividends, should be treated like the equity interests of a shareholder and subordinated to claims by creditors of the debtor,” held the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on Sept. 3, 2019. In re Linn Energy, LLC, 2019 WL 4149481 (5th Cir. Sept. 3, 2019).

The Third Circuit recently took a “pragmatic approach” when affirming lower court orders denying a stay of bankruptcy settlement distributions pending appeal. In re S.S. Body Armor I, Inc., 2019 WL 2588533 (3d Cir. June 25, 2019). After holding that the district court’s “stay denial order” was “final” for jurisdictional purposes, it also confirmed “the applicable standard of review” on motions for stays pending appeals.

Relevance

When a Chapter 11 debtor never sought “court approval to assume” an executory service contract, it “did not assume” the contract, held the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on June 28, 2019. In re Toys “R” Us, Inc., 2019 WL 271305, *1 (E.D. Va. June 28, 2019).

The Third Circuit recently took a “pragmatic approach” when affirming lower court orders denying a stay of bankruptcy settlement distributions pending appeal. In re S.S. Body Armor I, Inc., 2019 WL 2588533 (3d Cir. June 25, 2019). After holding that the district court’s “stay denial order” was “final” for jurisdictional purposes, it also confirmed “the applicable standard of review” on motions for stays pending appeals.

Relevance

Final provision number three of the Trade Secrets Law, in force since March 13, 2019, authorized the government to approve a revised wording of the Insolvency Law within eight months. Under that authorization, on March 22 the Ministries of Justice and of Economy and Enterprise submitted a bill for the Revised Insolvency Law.

La Disposición Final Tercera de la Ley de Secretos Empresariales, en vigor desde el pasado 13 de marzo, habilitaba al Gobierno a aprobar un texto refundido de la Ley Concursal en el plazo de ocho meses. De acuerdo con dicha habilitación, los Ministerios de Justicia y Economía y Empresa presentaron el 22 de marzo un proyecto de Texto Refundido de la Ley Concursal.