With the increase in global trade and business, often involving complex corporate structures in multiple jurisdictions, we expect to see a significant increase in cross-border insolvency and restructuring matters in coming years. This is especially the case with rapid advancements in technology and digital change driving “borderless” transactions and investments in every industry.

Introduction

Ability of a debtor to assume, assign, or reject oil and gas “leases” under section 365 of the Bankruptcy Code

Introduction

On May 1, 2020, the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Mexico ruled in favor of the Roman Catholic Church of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe (Archdiocese) granting a temporary injunction against the Small Business Administration (SBA) that had rejected the Archdiocese’s application for a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) Loan under the CARES Act.

On May 25, 2018, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit confirmed in re Sabine Oil & Gas Corp.1 that a midstream gathering agreement did not create a real covenant that ran with the land,2 and therefore, a debtor may reject the agreement as an “executory contract” under section 365 of the Bankruptcy Code.3

Introduction

In an important decision for debtors and creditors alike, the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware has ruled that provisions in a limited liability company operating agreement, granting the company’s lender absolute power to prevent the company from filing a bankruptcy petition are unenforceable as against public policy. In re: Intervention Energy Holdings, LLC, 2016 WL 3185576 (Bankr. D. Del. 2016).

The Second Circuit’s recent opinion in The Matter of: Motors Liquidation Company, 2016 WL 3766237 (2^nd Cir. 2016) should give pause to all buyers of assets from bankruptcy estates.

In 2014 the Eleventh Circuit held that a debt collector violates the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act when it filed a proof of claim in a chapter 13 case on a debt that it knows to be time-barred. Crawford v. LVNV Funding, LLC, 758 F.3d 1254 (11^th Circ. 2014).