As part of a complex series of related transactions, the debtor entered into a note purchase agreement with an investment bank. The agreement specifically disclaimed that the bank was acting as the debtor’s agent or owed the debtor any fiduciary duty. The note proceeds were to be used to pay the debtor’s shareholders to purchase their shares. The investment bank paid the proceeds directly to the shareholders. The trustee sought to avoid the payment as a fraudulent transfer.
The receivership debtors ran a Ponzi scheme. Acting under the state Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act, the receiver sued the debtors’ bank to avoid bank deposits as transfers made with actual intent to hinder, delay, or defraud creditors. The UFTA defines “transfer” as any mode, direct or in
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, more and more businesses are finding themselves in distress. According to Forbes, 30 million small businesses across the United States are experiencing financial distress, with half of those blaming the global pandemic for revenue decline. These challenges are especially felt by small businesses who may have limited access to the financial markets and investors as compared to larger companies, both public and private, and especially those whose owners have made personal guarantees on business loans.
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused unprecedented economic disruption, creating sudden financial distress across industries. Companies are now facing impacts ranging from a dramatic decline in revenue of uncertain duration, to potential setbacks to M&A transactions, to delayed or canceled financing rounds.
With even some previously well-performing companies potentially entering the so-called zone of insolvency, it’s important to review the fiduciary duties owed by directors and officers and how discharging those duties may change in the face of financial distress.
FERC proceeding to restrict rejection of a power purchase agreement may be subject to the automatic stay. The debtor had entered into several agreements to purchase power it no longer needed because its reorganization contemplated its exit from the business of selling electricity at retail. The contracts constituted a minimal portion of the debtor’s power contracts and were an insignificant portion of the power market.
In a recent decision, a bankruptcy court in Georgia enforced the arbitration agreement contained in a South Carolina consumer loan, holding that it is valid and enforceable, and that enforcement of it did not create an inherent conflict with the purposes of the Bankruptcy Code.
Each year amendments are made to the rules that govern how bankruptcy cases are managed — the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure. The amendments address issues identified by an Advisory Committee made up of federal judges, bankruptcy attorneys, and others. The rule amendments are ultimately adopted by the U.S. Supreme Court and technically subject to Congressional disapproval.
Only A Few Rule Amendments This Year. Unlike previous years, there are only four rule amendments expected to take effect on December 1, 2019. Here they are:
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A Big Answer To A Big Question. After dividing the courts for a number of years, we finally have the answer to the big question of whether rejection of a trademark license by a debtor-licensor deprives the licensee of the right to use the trademark. Here’s the question on which the Supreme Court granted certiorari in the Mission Product Holdings, Inc. v Tempnology, LLC case: