The appellate courts have been busy explaining or clarifying preference and fraudulent transfer law. Although novices may think the Bankruptcy Code (Code) is clear on its face, imaginative counsel have found gaps in the statute and generated rafts of litigation since the Code's enactment in 1979. Recent appellate decisions, summarized below, show that courts are still making new law or refining prior case law.
Preferences
The Act n 16/2022, dated September 5, on the reform of the Recast Insolvency Act, published on September 6, 2022, brings deep and major changes to the existing legislation.
The amendment will come into force on September 26, 2022, twenty days after its publication, and affect both proceedings commencing after entry into force of the legislation and a few parts of proceedings that had commenced earlier.
The differences between the original bill and the approved insolvency reform are shown in the compared version available here.
El 6 de septiembre se ha publicado en el Boletn Oficial del Estado la Ley 16/2022, de 5 de septiembre, de reforma del Texto Refundido de la Ley Concursal, que trae consigo importantes y profundas modificaciones en la norma vigente.
La modificacin entrar en vigor el 26 de septiembre de 2022, a los veinte das desde su publicacin, y afectar tanto a los procedimientos que se inicien tras la entrada en vigor de la norma como a algunas partes de aquellos que se hubieran abierto con anterioridad.
“Under the long-standing ‘solvent-debtor exception,’ plaintiffs [unsecured trade creditors] possess an equitable right to receive post-petition interest at the contractual or default state law rate, subject to any other equitable considerations, before [the debtor] collects surplus value from the bankruptcy estate,” held the Ninth Circuit on Aug. 29, 2022. In re PG&E Corporation, 2022 WL 3712498, *4 (9th Cir. Aug. 29, 2022) (2-1).
The defendant "was a `mere conduit' of [a] fraudulent transfer and cannot be liable to the bankruptcy estate for funds she never knew about," held the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on May 5, 2022. In re BICOM N.Y., LLC, 2022 WL 1419997 (2d Cir. May 5, 2022). Affirming the lower courts' granting of summary judgement to the defendant transferee, the court refused to "equate ...
Los juzgados de primera instancia conocerán, entre otras, de las acciones colectivas previstas en la legislación sobre condiciones generales de la contratación y en la legislación sobre defensa de consumidores y usuarios.
The Third Circuit recently affirmed the bankruptcy court's approved retention of the debtor's counsel ("S") when that "law firm dropped an existing client to avoid conflicts that would prevent it from taking on a more lucrative client [i.e., the debtor]." In re Boy Scouts of America, 2022 WL 1634643, *7 (3d Cir. May 24, 2022) (BSA). According to the court, there were "not enough facts to put [the so-called "hot potato" doctrine] into play" and disqualify S under the Rules of Professional Conduct. Id.
Recientes resoluciones judiciales han puesto en el foco la problemática aprobación judicial de una liquidación societaria cuando existe una situación de bloqueo por parte de alguno de los socios que impide adoptar acuerdos. Analizamos, a continuación, lo que han dicho los tribunales sobre los acuerdos sociales negativos y su posible impugnabilidad.
(SJM nº 13 de Madrid de 23 de marzo de 2021 y SAP de La Coruña de 1 de abril de 2022)
CJEU pronounces on “mobile conflict” and the effects of Brexit in relation to insolvency proceedings
Judgment by the Court of Justice of the European Union on March 24, 2022
El TJUE se pronuncia sobre el “conflicto móvil” y los efectos del Brexit en materia de insolvencia
Sentencia del Tribunal de Justicia de la Unión Europea de 24 de marzo de 2022