In an appeal involving a Chapter 12 bankruptcy, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit recently affirmed that the borrower’s use of the 20-year treasury bond rate sufficiently ensured that the total present value of future payments to the lender over the plan period equaled or exceeded the allowed value of the claim.
A copy of the opinion in Farm Credit Services of America v. William Topp is available at: Link to Opinion.
Duties and Implications of financial Information in s.214 claims
Introduction
This article follows Part 1 in which I set out the key issues we have recently seen and the case law arising in Misfeasance and Wrongful Trading claims. This Part 2 considers the duties and implications surrounding the financial information that is available to directors when faced with a s.214 wrongful trading claim.
This article is a part one of two series that explores the key issues we have recently seen and the case law arising in Misfeasance and Wrongful Trading claims.
Introduction
What is Wrongful Trading?
Selon Paul Chollet, économiste de Crédit Mutuel Arkea 2024 sera "une année noire" avec un record de défaillances d’entreprises en France. Cela fait maintenant 3 ans que les économistes prédisent un ras-de-marrée de défaillances. Cela étant, avec près de 49.000 de défaillances en France sur 12 mois glissants, il y a une tendance à un retour aux chiffres de 2019.
Il est donc indispensable de rappeler que des procédures de prévention (mandat ad hoc et la conciliation) sont là pour traiter les difficultés en amont de la défaillance.
The restructuring of Casino Group, one of France's top 6 retailers, is at the point of reaching a favourable outcome. An agreement is expected at the end of July 2023. The commonalities between the restructuring of Casino and Orpéa are the preservation of secured debt, the conversion of unsecured debt into capital, asset disposals and, of course, a significant injection of new money.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit recently rejected a bankruptcy trustee’s avoidance and fraudulent transfer claims, holding that a debt purchase and sale agreement between a bankrupt debtor, its original creditor, and its new creditor was not avoidable because it did not qualify as a transfer of “an interest of the debtor in property.”
Specifically, the Seventh Circuit determined that the transaction had no effect on the bankruptcy estate and the Bankruptcy Code’s avoidance provisions played no role.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently reversed a contrary trial court ruling and joined with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit in holding that a Chapter 13 trustee is not entitled to a percentage fee of plan payments as compensation for her work in a Chapter 13 case when the case is dismissed prior to confirmation.
A copy of the opinion in Evans v. McCallister (In re Evans) is available at: Link to Opinion.
The U.S. Bankruptcy Appellate Panel for the Eighth Circuit recently held that, at a minimum, a substantial change in circumstances is required to justify modification of a bankruptcy plan under Section 1229.
The Eighth Circuit BAP also determined that the bankruptcy court’s ruling that the debtors met their burden of showing an unanticipated, substantial change in circumstances was not clearly erroneous, despite multiple changes by the debtor, nor was the bankruptcy court’s finding that the fourth modified plan was feasible and confirmable.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit recently affirmed the dismissal of a consumer’s lawsuit against a debt collector, holding that the consumer lacked Article III standing to sue because his allegations of ʺconfusion” and “alarm” were not sufficiently concrete to result in an injury in fact.
Looking at the most recent figures on corporate insolvencies makes for worrying reading for landlords and occupiers alike, with overall numbers now exceeding pre-pandemic levels. Overall, corporate insolvencies increased by 17% in England and Wales since February 2022 and were a third higher than in February 2020.