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The Third Circuit Lets the Katz Out of the Bag: No Sovereign Immunity for California in the Post-Confirmation Venoco Dispute

The Executive Summary provided a short version of the facts. The next few paragraphs provide a longer version, or you can skip to the next section.

USA, Insolvency & Restructuring, Litigation, Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP, European Commission, Supreme Court of the United States
Distressed debt and restructuring trends to expect in 2022

The European distressed market has been quiet this year. This is a function of ongoing government support, supportive sponsors and lenders, and a huge amount of liquidity in the market. Many companies which we and our clients identified as potential restructuring candidates have managed to complete successful refinancing transactions and have avoided the restructuring negotiation table.

European Union, Banking, Insolvency & Restructuring, Ropes & Gray LLP, Supply chain
Prepetition Claim or Postpetition Claim? The Timing of a Claim When A Debtor’s Prepetition Wrongful Actions Continue Postpetition

Executive Summary

USA, Insolvency & Restructuring, Litigation, Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP, Supreme Court of the United States
Stop Looting the Bankruptcy Code: Stop Wall Street Looting Act Proposes Substantial Changes to the Bankruptcy Code and Key Principles of Corporate Law

On October 20, 2021, Democratic senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), and Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon), and Independent senator Bernard Sanders (I-Vermont), introduced to the United States Senate proposed legislation S. 3022, the Stop Wall Street Looting Act of 2021 (the “SWSLA”),1 as a reworked version of legislation previously proposed in 2019.

In what appears to be an attempt at wholesale reform of the private equity industry and bankruptcy practice, the SWSLA proposes to:

USA, Banking, Insolvency & Restructuring, Litigation, Ropes & Gray LLP, Private equity, ESG, American Medical Association, Internal Revenue Service (USA), Internal Revenue Code (USA)
The Way Is Shut: Nondebtor Release Legislation Proposes Mandatory Dismissal on Account of Pre-Bankruptcy Liability Management Transactions

Third-party, or nondebtor, releases have continued to attract attention from both commentators and legislators in the wake of recent cases such as Purdue Pharma LP, Boy Scouts of America and USA Gymnastics. Most recently, Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), and Representatives Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) and Carolyn B.

USA, Insolvency & Restructuring, Litigation, Ropes & Gray LLP
UK temporary insolvency measures to be phased out from 1 October

The UK Government has announced today that temporary measures to protect businesses in distress introduced in response to the Covid-19 pandemic through the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 will be lifted from 1 October 2021.

New measures intended to protect small businesses as the economy reopens, particularly in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors, are to be introduced, with effect until 31 March 2022.

United Kingdom, Insolvency & Restructuring, Ropes & Gray LLP, Coronavirus
Bankruptcy No Sanctuary Against Government Enforcement Actions: NRA’s Chapter 11 Case Dismissed as Bad Faith Filing

Executive Summary

USA, Insolvency & Restructuring, Litigation, Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP, Corporate governance
Debt or Equity? SDNY Bankruptcy Court Says “Debt” in a Recent Case Involving Recharacterization of a Party’s Debt Claim as Equity

Overview

USA, Insolvency & Restructuring, Litigation, Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP, Bankruptcy, Debt, Coronavirus, United States bankruptcy court
Avoiding Foreign Transfers Based on Foreign Law Claims: Fairfield Sentry Cases Illustrate Broad Scope of Safe Harbor in Chapter 15

A series of related decisions issued by the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York in the ongoing Fairfield Sentry U.S. redeemer litigation — Fairfield Sentry II,1Fairfield Sentry III,2 and Fairfield Sentry IV3 — provide insight into, among other things, the interplay between the safe harbor provision of section 546(e)4 of the Bankruptcy Code (the “Safe Harbor”) and chapter 15.

USA, Insolvency & Restructuring, Litigation, Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP
Not for You, Second Lien Creditor: Delaware Bankruptcy Court Reaffirms First Lien Intercreditor Right to Carve Out Collateral

The liquidity-fueled lull in restructuring activity provides both an interesting historical echo of the late 1990s and a useful opportunity for market participants to take note of a deceptively interesting opinion in Giuliano ex rel. Consolidated Bedding, Inc. v. L&P Financial Services Co. (In re Consolidated Bedding, Inc.), Case No. 19-50727, 2021 WL 2638594 (Bankr. D. Del. June 25, 2021) (Shannon, J.).

USA, Delaware, Insolvency & Restructuring, Litigation, Ropes & Gray LLP, Bankruptcy