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Last month, we discussed practical tips for dealing with contractor insolvency as part of our ongoing construction webinar series.

Our colleague, Doug Wass, has already shared three key points to be aware of when a contractor becomes insolvent. In this article we discuss, in more detail, the practical points clients and those administering building contracts on their behalf should consider when contractor insolvency is suspected and occurs.

Three weeks spent entirely at home seemed daunting at the time (little did we know…) and the prospect of wholesale business closures soon gave rise to serious concerns about the potential impact which those closures would have on the wider economy.

In connection with recognition, PT Bakrie’s foreign representative sought an order from the Bankruptcy Court enforcing its Indonesian PKPU Plan. The foreign representative argued that the plan provided a discharge of the debtor, and all other parties, from any liability in respect of the intercompany loans at issue. By seeking enforcement of the PKPU Plan, the foreign representative effectively sought a release of non-debtor third parties from liability to the Objecting Noteholders and others, including in respect of the approximate $161 million stipulated judgment.

In the recent opinion In re PT Bakrie Telecom TBK, 2021 WL 1439953, the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York provided some further guidance on what constitutes a “collective proceeding” for purposes of achieving recognition of a foreign proceeding under Chapter 15 of the Bankruptcy Code. This post will address the collective nature of the proceeding at issue. In a future post we will address other important elements of Judge Lane’s decision.

In HighPoint Resources Corporation, Case No. 21-10565-CSS (Bankr. D. Del. 2021), the U.S. Trustee’s office filed an objection (Dkt. No. 48) to the rapid confirmation of the Debtors’ plan of reorganization, among other things, indicating its concern regarding the recent trend of expedited pre-packaged plans because of their failure to provide interested parties with adequate notice.

Expedited Pre-Packs

Early evening on February 23, 2021, Belk Inc. and its affiliates (collectively, “Belk”) filed their Chapter 11 bankruptcy petitions in the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas. Less than seventeen hours later, Judge Marvin Isgur confirmed Belk’s pre-packed plan of reorganization. Belk is not the first Chapter 11 bankruptcy case to accomplish plan confirmation within the first twenty-four hours after filing a petition, and it certainly won’t be the last. In 2019, Sungard Availability Services Capital, Inc.

With an increased number of businesses experiencing financial difficulties in the current economic climate, lender-led debt restructurings are becoming more prevalent. Such restructurings are commonly achieved by the lender releasing, capitalising or amending its debt, each of which will have tax consequences for the borrower group.

This note sets out a brief summary of some of the key UK tax points to be aware of, and pitfalls to avoid, when undertaking these debt restructurings.

Debt waivers

Alerts and Updates

The Court’s decision provides greater certainty for creditors who passively retain estate property that they obtained pre-petition.

The government has once again suspended wrongful trading, this time until 30 April 2020. The government had previously suspended wrongful trading for the period between 1 March 2020 and 30 September 2020. To the surprise of many commentators in the insolvency profession the government let the first suspension lapse at the end of September. Perhaps because of the "second wave" of Covid-19 the government has seen it fit to revive the suspension.

Alerts and Updates

The rule becomes effective one year after it is published in the Federal Register.

On October 30, 2020, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a final rule revising Regulation F, 12 CFR part 1006, which implements the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 U.S.C. 1692, et seq. (FDCPA).