A recent Scottish Inner House decision provides an overview of the approach to be taken in Scotland to interpreting performance bonds. The decision notes that the degree of compliance required when making a call may be strict, or not so strict, depending on the construction of the bond. The court’s decision also refers to the commercial purpose of the bond being key and may suggest that a more lenient approach to performance bonds is to apply in Scotland.
Can Gathering Agreements Be Rejected as Executory Contracts?
Courts agree that bankruptcy trustees control bankrupt companies' attorney-client privilege. It is easy to underestimate this basic principle's strength.
In 2015, the energy sector accounted for more than one-half of all public company bankruptcy filings, including eight of the 10 largest filings. Current oil prices and bond values indicate that 2016 will be another active year. As of late January 2016, crude oil prices hovered around $30 per barrel. These low prices are reflected in the bond market, where in December 2015, approximately $80 billion in non-defaulted oil and gas debt was trading below 50 cents on the dollar.
On January 25, 2016, the Romanian court handling the bankruptcy proceeding of Astra SA extended the deadline to file court claims against Astra SA to 17 February 2016. The initial deadline for filing was 18 January 2016. Creditors of Astra SA may wish to avail themselves of this extended deadline to file such claims in order to recover some or part of the amounts owed to them by Astra SA in the bankruptcy/liquidation proceedings.
On January 25, Lehman and JPMorgan announced a settlement to resolve several aspects of the contentious and multifaceted Lehman-JPMorgan dispute that has lingered throughout Lehman’s bankruptcy. The bankruptcy court will hear a motion to approve the settlement on February 8.
The District Court for the Southern District of New York recently affirmed the Bankruptcy Court’s decision to approve the method used by trustee of the estate of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC (BLMIS) to value the net equity of transfers between BLMIS accounts. See In re BLMIS (Melton Tr. v. Picard), Case No. 1:15-cv-01195-PAE (S.D.N.Y. Jan. 14, 2016).
Background
A major consideration for any Claimant in an action seeking monetary damages is whether the Defendant to an action has the assets to meet a judgment, whether that be a claim against an individual or a limited company backed by the personal guarantee of an individual. That consideration should extend to a scenario where the Defendant has a judgment made against them and then either refuses to pay or cannot pay on time. The Claimant may have to seek their bankruptcy to achieve some payment.
Introduction:
The Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled that a provision of German law falls within the scope of Article 4 of the EC Regulation on Insolvency Proceedings, thereby paving the way for a German court to require a director of an English incorporated company to make payments under German law where the company has been placed into insolvency proceedings in Germany.
Many courts recognize that a corporation's constituent (such as an audit committee or a group of independent directors) can own the privilege and work product protection covering the constituent's internal corporate investigation. Under this approach, the company's bankruptcy trustee cannot access or waive that privilege or work product protection. See, e.g., Ex parte Smith, 942 So. 2d 356 (Ala. 2006) (denying a bankruptcy trustee's attempt to access pre-bankruptcy communications between the company's independent directors and its Skadden Arps lawyers).