Yesterday, the Minnesota Department of Commerce closed Riverview Community Bank, headquartered in Otsego, Minnesota, and the FDIC was named as receiver. As receiver, the FDIC entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with Central Bank, Stillwater, Minnesota, to assume all the deposits of Riverview Community Bank.

On Friday, the California Department of Financial Institutions closed Affinity Bank, headquartered in Ventura California, and the FDIC was named as receiver. As receiver, the FDIC entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with Pacific Western Bank, headquartered in San Diego, California, to assume all of the deposits of Affinity Bank.

Late last night, after presiding over a three-day hearing on the matter last week, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Gerber of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York issued an order authorizing the sale of substantially all of the assets of General Motors Corporation (“Old GM”) under Section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code (“Section 363 Sale”).

Today, the House Financial Services Committee, chaired by Representative Barney Frank (D-MA), held a hearing on the effects of the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy on state and local governments and other publicly-funded entities.

Testifying at the hearing were the following witnesses:

Panel One:

Yesterday, Iceland’s Prime Minister announced that the government has decided not to bring suit against the UK authorities for the Freezing Order issued against Landsbanki by the UK authorities on October 8, 2008, on the basis of their Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act.

On February 4, 2014, the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey in In re Surma, 2014 WL 413572 (Bankr. D.N.J. Feb. 4, 2014), held that rents were not property of the debtor’s bankruptcy estate because they were subject to an absolute and unconditional assignment of rents in favor of the secured lender. As a result, the court concluded that the debtor may not, through his Chapter 11 plan of reorganization, use or allocate rents.

Background

The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York recently held that an ad hoc committee of bondholders, holding $162.5 in senior secured bonds, lacked standing to participate in the issuer-debtor’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy case.  In re American Roads LLC, 2013 WL 4601006 (Bankr. S.D.N.Y.

While bankruptcy law and tort law may not seem related, it is important to know if your client has ever gone through a bankruptcy and, if so, the terms of its plan of reorganization. A recent Eighth Circuit decision confirmed the importance of knowing the ins and outs of a client’s bankruptcy and the terms of the applicable plan.

Earlier today, the FDIC announced that the FDIC Board of Directors voted on Friday, October 8, 2010 to approve the issuance of a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPR) regarding the treatment of certain creditor claims under the FDIC’s new orderly liquidation authority established under Title II of the

On Friday, the Office of Thrift Supervision closed Imperial Savings and Loan Association, headquartered in Martinsville, Virginia, and appointed the FDIC as receiver.