I. Planteamiento

Es sabido que en la práctica judicial concursalista española se ha extendido la técnica de dictar Autos de simultánea declaración y conclusión del concurso con extinción de la persona jurídica concursada y baja registral por la presumible insuficiencia del activo para hacer frente a los créditos previsibles contra la masa (denominado concurso express).

Congress enacted the ordinary course of business defense to the avoidance of preferential transfers to protect recurring, customary transactions in order to encourage the continuation of business with and the extension of credit to a financially distressed customer.

En la disposición final tercera del Real Decreto Ley 6/2013, sin conexión evidente con el objeto principal de la norma, se introducen modificaciones en el artículo 36.4 de la Ley 9/2012 (de reestructuración de entidades de crédito), con el propósito de fortalecer la posición jurídica de la SAREB como adquirente masivo de los activos tóxicos de las entidades intervenidas.

1. El supuesto de hecho

The Spanish Insolvency Act (hereinafter, the SIA) establishes two simple and straightforward options designed to bring a solution to the Debtor’s insolvency: 1) either enter into a legal transaction with the creditors in which the free will of the parties is evidenced (this is known as composition of creditors or creditor’s agreement) or; 2) commence the winding-up of the company.

This paper aims to briefly describe the scenarios where acts or actions might be rescinded (particularly in the context of refinancing or debt restructuring of Spanish companies) pursuant to the Spanish Insolvency Act (“SIA”) and the consequences of rescission from a legal standpoint. Procedural questions related to the subject matter are not analyzed in this document.

What acts can be rescinded?

1. Introduction

Given the situation of Spanish market generally —and the latest reforms on restructuring of the financial sector more particularly— it seems that cash flow shortage may be ongoing in the near to mid term future for some Spanish corporations. Upon this situation stressed or distressed companies may consider rescue financing alternatives in substitution —or in addition to— other traditional funding. Generally within a broadest restructuring deal, non-bank lenders may have an interesting role to play in providing for liquidity facilities.

Bankruptcy Code Section 503(b)(9) litigations have sometimes yield "shocking results". There is no pun intended here. This article discusses a recent case where the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Montana waded into the spine tingling issue of whether electricity is a good that is subject to Section 503(b)(9) administrative priority status.

1. Introduction

Large businesses and organizations that self-insure their legally mandated insurance requirements often use “fronting” policies in which the policyholder must reimburse insurers for all losses and expenses paid on the policyholder’s behalf. These policyholders must furnish substantial collateral to secure repayment, typically, enough to pay many years’ worth of actual and anticipated claims. This can amount to hundreds of millions of dollars, and typically exacerbates cash flow and balance sheet problems for policyholders under financial stress.