Debtors in bankruptcy, including hospitals and skilled nursing facilities, left out under the CARES Act PPP

As a creditor, especially during the current Covid-19 crisis, it may be tempting to accept all and any payments from debtors.

Payments that a debtor company makes to you during the period where there is a winding-up petition in place will be a void disposition, under section 127 of the Insolvency Act 1986, unless there is an application to the Court and receipt of what is known as a “validation order,” allowing you to keep the money.

What’s happening in real life?

The changes?

On Saturday, during the Government’s daily Coronavirus update, it was announced that it would shortly legislate to:

In a recent decision, [1], the High Court decided that it was not in the public interest to wind up a business rates mitigation scheme under its Insolvency Act powers, as it found that this scheme did not subvert the intention of insolvency law.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit issued an opinion on December 24, 2019, In re Homebanc Mortgage Crop., No. 18-2887, 2019 WL 7161215(3rd Cir. De. 24, 2019) that has significant consequences for participants in repurchases transactions. The court affirmed the lower court judgment, that the securities had been liquidated in good faith.

Facts

Section 546(e) of the Bankruptcy Code is a safe harbor provision that establishes that a trustee or debtor-in-possession may not avoid a transfer “by or to... a financial institution.. in connection with a securities contract” other than under an intentional fraudulent conveyance theory. On December 19, 2019, the Second Circuit in Note Holders v.

In 2007, Philadelphia Entertainment and Development Partners, LP dba Foxwoods Casino Philadelphia (“Plaintiff”) secured a gaming license from Pennsylvania for $50,000,000 with the understanding that it open its casino business within one year. Plaintiff failed to do so and, despite a number of extensions, Pennsylvania cancelled and revoked the gaming license in December 2010. Without a gaming license, Plaintiff found itself in chapter 11 by spring of 2014.

The Bankruptcy Protector has previously provided a succinct summary of all cases decided post-Jevichere and

In In re FirstEnergy Solutions Corp., 2019 WL 6767004 (6th Cir. Ct. App.), the United States Court of Appeals affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded to the bankruptcy court for further consideration, the determination that the bankruptcy court held exclusive and unlimited jurisdiction and therefore could enjoin FERC from taking action regarding energy contracts because under the BJR they were financially burdensome on FES and as such could be rejected.

Facts

The First Circuit Court of Appeals issued an opinion on October 29, 2019, in In re TelexFree, LLC, No. 18-2001, 2019 WL 5558088, at *1 (1st Cir. Oct. 29, 2019) that has significant consequences for ponzi scheme litigation in bankruptcy court.

The TelexFree Ponzi Scheme and Related Bankruptcy Litigation