On June 9, 2014, the Supreme Court issued a decision in Executive Benefits Insurance Agency v. Arkison, a case that tested the extent of the jurisdiction of bankruptcy court judges to decide fraudulent transfer and certain other claims against non-debtors. Ropes & Gray LLP represented the petitioner in obtaining certiorari and in the Supreme Court proceedings.
WHAT IS FATCA?
A recent case heard before the Royal Court in Guernsey has provided clear guidance on the application of the principle of modified universalism to insolvency matters in Guernsey.
LONDON - The Court of Appeal in the case of Re Game Station1 has held that rent payable by a tenant that enters administration is a priority expense of the administration while the leasehold premises are being used for the benefit of the administration.
The Royal Court has recently given clear guidance on the application of the principle of modified universalism to insolvency matters in Guernsey. The case of EFG Private Bank (Channel Islands) Ltd v. BC Capital Group (in liquidation) & Ors [34/2013] will have significant consequences for cross- border insolvencies with a Guernsey element, as it sets out for the first time the principles which the Royal Court should consider when assessing the nature and extent of its obligation to provide “active assistance” to foreign insolvency proceedings.
The Supreme Court has boosted the rescue culture by ruling that Financial Support Directions (FSDs) issued by the UK Pensions Regulator after commencement of insolvency proceedings are not an expense of the administration and, instead, rank on a par with unsecured claims. This decision in the Nortel and Lehman administrations will be reassuring to creditors and insolvency and restructuring practitioners.
Key Points
In an important decision for private equity sponsors and other insiders who advance loans to their businesses, on April 30, 2013, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in In re Fitness Holdings International confirmed that bankruptcy courts may recharacterize debt as equity, but held that recharacterization is determined by state law. In its ruling, the Ninth Circuit joins the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in deferring to state law on this issue and explicitly rejects the various federal law based tests that have been adopted by a majority of U.S.
The United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware recently upheld a secured lender’s claim for a $23.5 million “makewhole” premium (the “Makewhole Claim”) over the heavily litigated objection raised by the unsecured creditors’ committee in In re School Specialty, Inc., No. 13-10125 (KJC) (Apr. 22, 2013).
Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code provides debtors with a number of tools to restructure comprehensively their debts and other liabilities as well as immediate protection from secured and unsecured creditors.
On 24 October 2012 the UK Supreme Court handed down its highly anticipated decision on the enforceability of foreign judgments in the case of Rubin v. Eurofinance S.A. [2012] UKSC 46, reversing the previous judgment of the Court of Appeal which had significantly altered the landscape of cross-border insolvency.