The Bankruptcy Protector
In the ever-churning waters of the Countryman test for determining whether a contract is executory, the United States District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana recently dipped its toe. The question before the court was whether surety bonds issued to an oil and gas company were executory. The district court, upholding the bankruptcy court below, held that they were not. An analysis of this opinion sheds light on why the surety bonds are not executory and provides lessons for both creditors and debtors, alike.
Back in July, Craig Eller wrote in The Bankruptcy Protector about the continuing confusion amongst courts and litigants regarding the applicability of a 2018 increase in fees payable to the Office of the United States Trustee in chapter 11 cases.
The Bankruptcy Protector
COVID has tested the resilience of the construction industry over the past 18 months: temporary site closures; working restrictions; price increases and material shortages, to name but a few. Those challenges have brought cashflow pressures to bear. Is the next storm to be weathered that of solvency? It certainly seems ever more acute in these unprecedented times.
The Bankruptcy Protector
Friend or Foe?
The Bankruptcy Protector
The Court of Appeal has overturned a decision of the High Court on whether immunity from suit, generally afforded to participants in court proceedings, extends to an examinee during an examination conducted under section 236 of the Insolvency Act 1986 ("Section 236").
Once a company is facing Administration (the most common insolvency process for a trading business – although see tip 2 below), the Administrators may look to sell the business and assets. This could be a pre-pack sale, or a regular administration sale and it may only be advertised to a select group of potential buyers or more widely in the market.
The UK Government has announced that the temporary measures which were put in place to protect businesses from insolvency during the pandemic are to be lifted and from 1 October 2021. This means that creditors will be able to seek to wind up debtors who owe them money. But, the devil is in the detail. Creditors do not have carte blanche and new conditions apply. In order to continue to promote business rescue, these conditions will remain in place from 1 October 2021 to 31 March 2022.