In re Tribune Company, et al. No. 182909 (3d Cir. filed Aug. 26, 2020).
Case Snapshot
In re Affordable Auto Repair, Inc., No. 6:19bk18367MW, 2020 Bankr. LEXIS 2366 (Bankr. C.D. Cal. Sept. 2, 2020).
Case Snapshot
2020 has seen a significant increase in chapter 11 filings by oil and gas producers. Critical to the operations of these companies, and to the transportation and processing of the producer’s gas, are gathering agreements entered into between the producers and midstream companies. A pivotal question posed at the start of these chapter 11 proceedings is whether the gathering agreements are executory contracts subject to rejection or whether they create real property interests that cannot be rejected in chapter 11 proceedings. The answer depends on who you ask.
What are the new provisions?
The English Court has, for the first time, handed down judgment on whether the liquidation stay prevents the Financial Conduct Authority (the "FCA") from issuing a Warning Notice under sections 92 and 126 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 ("FSMA") without first seeking leave from the Court.
The Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia has become the first appellate court among ratifying countries to look directly at the meaning of “give possession” and “giving possession of the aircraft object to the creditor” under the Protocol to the Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment (known as the Cape Town Convention) on matters specific to Aircraft Equipment (the Protocol) in the context of an insolvency (the Virgin Australia insolvency) in Wells Fargo Trust Company, National Association (trustee) v VB Leaseco Pty Ltd (admin
In the latest saga concerning “covenants running with the land” and the rejection of midstream gathering agreements under section 365 of the Bankruptcy Code (the Code), the Honorable Christopher Sontchi, Chief Judge of the Delaware Bankruptcy Court (the Court), issued three1 decisions holding that certain of Extraction Oil & Gas, Inc.’s (Extraction) gathering agreements with its midstream service providers did not create real property interests and, thus, that Extraction could reject such gathering agreements in its chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings.
The English courts are known for being pro-arbitration. In the recent case of Riverrock Securities Limited v International Bank of St Petersburg (Joint Stock Company) [2020] EWHC 2483 (Comm) the English High Court has granted an anti-suit injunction in relation to claims being made in foreign bankruptcy proceedings, where the underlying agreements included arbitration provisions with a London seat.
The parties
The torrid pace of bankruptcy filings by U.S. businesses has ebbs and flows, but the tide is not receding. The economy continues to struggle under the weight of the COVID-19 pandemic.
There has not been any substantial change in the fundamentals of the business cycle and Washington has been unable to produce another round of stimuli. So, we need to be careful about drawing conclusions from any short term variance in the rate of bankruptcy filings.
In a not altogether unsurprising blow for aircraft lessors and financiers, an appeal against the earlier decision of the Federal Court of Australia on the interpretation of the phrase ‘give possession of the aircraft object to the creditor’ as used in Article XI of the Protocol to the Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment on Matters Specific to Aircraft Equipment (the Aircraft Protocol) in the context of an insolvency has been allowed by the Full Court and various original orders set aside.