Subchapter V of the Bankruptcy Code’s Chapter 11 is relatively new: it took effect as a new law on February 19, 2020. Accordingly, new questions continue to arise on how its terms and provisions should be applied.
A Trustee Fees Question
One Subchapter V question is this:
- When does a Subchapter V trustee’s administrative claim for fees and costs get paid?
A Regular Chapter 11 Answer
The answer in regular Chapter 11 has always been this:
The Commercial Chamber of the French Supreme Court ("Cour de cassation") has recently handed down a decision of particular interest for distressed M&A transactions: Cass. com. 1er mars 2023, no. 21-14.787, FS-B.
Alexandre Koenig, partner and head of the firm's restructuring and insolvency practice in France analyses the legal and practical consequences of this decision for sellers of French distressed companies.
Context
When a federal court approves a [bankruptcy] plan allowing someone to put its hands into another person’s pockets, the person with the pockets is entitled to be fully heard and to have legitimate objections addressed.[Fn. 1]
Pop Quiz Question:
Does Insurer, in the following facts, have standing to object to Debtor’s Chapter 11 plan?
Debtor is in bankruptcy because of asbestos lawsuits.
Debtor proposes a Chapter 11 plan that is supported by all constituencies—except one:
Feasibility of a bankruptcy plan is always a tough issue.
Think about it:
- debtors are in bankruptcy because they can’t make their payments when due; and
- in bankruptcy, a debtor must propose a plan for paying creditors—that will work this time.
We now have a new plan feasibility opinion—from the Eighth Circuit BAP—that provides guidance to us all.
Re: Guangdong Overseas Construction Corporation () (in liquidation) (date of decision: 17 May 2023)
Introduction
The Bankruptcy Code’s Subchapter V provides hope to formerly successful entrepreneurs. It’s a hope that never before existed.
I’ll try to explain.
Formerly Successful Entrepreneurs – A Historical Problem
The Bankruptcy Code became effective in October of 1979. And I’ve been practicing under the Bankruptcy Code from the beginning: licensed in 1980.
Here’s an observation that’s been true throughout my career, until enactment of Subchapter V:
Answers to these two questions can get tricky:
- When should a previously successful business engage distress-debt counsel?
- What is the role of the business’s general counsel once that happens?
Second Question: Role
Here’s the answer to the second question first:
The hits keep coming for student loans in bankruptcy.
This time the hit is this:
- student loans for attending medical school do not qualify as “commercial or business” loans for Subchapter V eligibility.
The central finding, for a medical student who worked as an employee for ten years before becoming an entrepreneur, is this:
- “the gap between incurring the debt and actually engaging in . . . commercial or business activity as an owner is simply too great.”
Background
Is a debtor “engaged in commercial or business activities” for Subchapter V eligibility?
Such question has been addressed on many occasions and by many courts.
The trend seems to be toward a conclusion that the nature and quantity of “commercial or business activities” required for Subchapter V eligibility is this:
- Nature = “easily met”; and
- Quantity = “not much.”
The latest opinion to confirm the trend is In re Robinson, Case No. 22-2414, Southern Mississippi Bankruptcy Court (issued April 17, 2023; Doc. 90).
The High Court recently issued its ruling in the matter of Re Avanti Communications Limited (in administration). It is the first major case since the pivotal 2005 House of Lords decision of Re Spectrum Plus to examine the characteristics of fixed and floating charges.
Key points