The New Year seems to be starting with a bang for the ILS industry.  On January 23rd, KKR announced it had taken a 24.9% stake in Nephila.  Earlier in the month Validus reported a $400 million capital raise to fund investments in collateralized reinsurance and ILS.  In a transaction on which Edwards Wildman Palmer LLP advised Transatlantic Re, Transatlantic Re in December acquired a minority interest in Pillar Capital Management and announced a strategic partnership with Pillar, a manager of funds investing in collateralized reinsurance and ILS.

In Ollerenshaw and Reeh v the Financial Services Authority (the FSA), former directors of the Black and White Group Limited (in liquidation) (B&W), challenged decisions of the FSA in a reference to the Upper Tribunal.

On October 16, 2012, the United States Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned decisions of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Colorado and the United States District Court for the District of Colorado that had cast doubt as to whether a lender could enforce a security interest in the proceeds from the sale of a borrower’s FCC broadcast license. The case, Valley Bank and Trust Company v. Spectrum Scan, LLC (In re Tracy Broadcasting Corp.), 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 21505 (10th Cir. Colo. Oct.

In two recent decisions,² the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York denied motions by large chapter 11 debtors to approve executive bonus plans designated as key employee incentive plans ("KEIP"), finding that the proposed KEIPs actually were disguised and impermissible retention or "pay to stay" bonus plans for insiders. These are the first opinions to reject so-called KEIPs following a recent line of cases that have approved KEIPs for insiders.

The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled on whether section 546(e) of the Bankruptcy Code exempts payments for electricity provided under a requirements contract from avoidance as preferences. At least where the facts match those of the subject case, MBS Mgmt. Serv., Inc. v. MXEnergy Elect., Inc., No. 11-30553, 2012 WL 3125167 (5th Cir. Aug. 2, 2012), such payments are exempt.

On July 2, 2012, the Illinois Department of Insurance (IDOI) entered an Agreed Order of Rehabilitation against Lumbermens Mutual Casualty Company and American Manufacturers Mutual Insurance Company, which is the part of the Lumbermens Mutual Group formerly known as Kemper (collectively, “Lumbermens”). Under the order, IDOI’s Director will serve as Lumbermens’ Rehabilitator with powers to restructure Lumbermens’ insurance business. From this point forward, Lumbermens will no longer take on any new insurance obligations, issue any new policies, or renew any existing policies.

In a recent decision¹ involving Global Aviation Holdings, Inc.

Given the spate of bankruptcies filed over the last few years, including by large-scale tenants such as Borders, Linens 'n Things, and Circuit City, and the tenuous financial condition of big-box retailers such as Best Buy, it is important for both landlords and tenants to understand the benefits and limitations of bankruptcy protection as it relates to the status of a bankrupt tenant’s leasehold interest.

In somewhat related news, in two recent New York Supreme Court rulings, judges upheld the validity of “bad boy” guarantees that included as non-recourse exceptions or “bad boy” acts under the guarantee a voluntary bankruptcy filing by the borrower.

In a decision of considerable importance for bankruptcy debtors and lenders, the Supreme Court handed down its ruling earlier today in RadLAX Gateway Hotel, LLC v. Amalgamated Bank, --- S.Ct. ----, 2012 WL 1912197 (2012). In this highly anticipated decision, the Supreme Court held that a debtor may not confirm a plan under the “cramdown” provision of 11 U.S.C. § 1129(b)(2)(A) where the plan proposes to sell a secured lender’s collateral without affording the creditor the opportunity to credit-bid for the collateral.