The impact of Argentina's prolonged dispute with the holdouts of its defaulted debt continues to reverberate in the context of foreign sovereign debt restructuring. What has been called the "trial of the century" because of its potential impact on sovereign debt issuances — a clash between the U.S. courts and a foreign sovereign — began in 2001 with Argentina's default.

The last major revision to U.S. business reorganization laws occurred in 1978.
Since then, companies’ capital structures have become more complex and rely
more heavily on leverage, including secured debt in particular; their asset values
are driven less by hard assets and more by services, contracts, intellectual property and
other intangible assets; and their business structures and models increasingly are multinational.
Moreover, there has been a growing perception that troubled companies are

Is electricity goods or services?  That seemingly simple yet confounding question is illustrated by three recent bankruptcy cases (all of which consider whether an electricity provider is entitled to an administrative expense priority under Bankruptcy Code Section 503(b)(9) for “the value of goods received by the debtor” in the ordinary course within 20 days prior to the automatic stay):

Mitigating Risk in African Investments

Lewis Bros. Bakeries, Inc. v. Interstate Brands Corp. (In re Interstate Bakeries Corp.)

The end of a legal saga

Voss v. Knotts et al.

In a concise, unpublished decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed a district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the defendants in a copyright suit on the grounds that the plaintiff lacked standing.  Voss v. Knotts et al., Case No. 12-56168 (9th Cir., Apr. 8, 2014) (per curiam).

Welcome to the first issue of International News for 2014. In this issue we focus on employee benefits.

First, however, in our Features section, we consider a number of ways of mitigating risk in African investments. As Africa becomes increasingly developed, investment opportunities are becoming increasingly appealing, but investors must still act wisely.

Summertime is arguably the best time of the year. Warm weather. Long-awaited family vacations. Extended daylight. And unique to this summer, as of July 1, 2013, in most states, we have substantial amendments (the 2010 Amendments) to the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) to digest (maybe even under an umbrella on the beach). The 2010 Amendments are intended to clarify existing law, especially with respect to how certain types of debtors are named in financing statements. As of July 3, 2013, 44 states and the District of Columbia had enacted the 2010 Amendments.

Under French law, the divestiture of an unprofitable business can create specific legal risks resulting from the status of the sold business. International companies should anticipate a number of issues when selling a French loss-making subsidiary, including, but not limited to, issues surrounding the sale price, the risk of post-closing liabilities under bankruptcy proceedings and the risk of post-closing liabilities relating to employee claims.

Sale Price