In Grant & Ors v FR Acquisitions Corporation (Europe) Ltd & Anor (Re Lehman Brothers International (Europe)) [2022] EWHC 2532 (Ch), the English High Court ruled on an application for directions (the “Application”) made by the administrators (the “Administrators”) of Lehman Brothers International (Europe) (LBIE) relating to the construction and effect of certain bankruptcy-related events of default (“Events of Default”) specified under the ISDA Master Agreements (as defined below), specifically:

在《商法》2022年11月刊首发。

医药BD（business development，商务拓展）项目通常指通过授权许可、投资、并购、合作开发/商业化等方式进行产品和技术的商业机会拓展。全球新冠疫情已逾三年，医药行业的市场环境和商业预期亦深受影响，导致医药BD项目面临不同程度的挑战。

折射到法律和履约层面，不可抗力、情势变更与市场变化等因素也逐渐变成医药企业内部会议或与合作伙伴商讨如何继续开展项目时高频出现的词汇。是继续“厮守”，还是友好“分手”，往往成为不可回避的话题。

一、妥善约定退出机制

协议是项目开展的基础，项目因各种原因难以为继而需要终止时，退出机制的设计就成为关键。通道不清、权责不明的终止或解除条款将导致企业退出困难，且通常伴随着高昂的时间与经济成本。

协议的终止/解除可分为法定终止/解除与意定终止/解除的两种情形。

在中国法下，常见法定终止情形包括不可抗力与情势变更，两种情形都具有不可预见性，在双方意见不一时，需由法院或仲裁机构决定适用。相对而言，意定终止基于双方事前合意，意见较易统一，可预见性更强。居安思危，事前规划退出机制，明确双方对于合作终止情形的预期，也是对项目负责的表现。

In a decision that may provide much-needed boundaries around the permissibility of debtors created from “out-of-the-box” prepetition corporate transactions, on January 30, 2023, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit issued a unanimous opinion dismissing Johnson & Johnson subsidiary LTL Management, LLC’s (“LTL”) chapter 11 case pending in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey as not being filed in good faith.¹

The concept of “property of the estate” is important in bankruptcy because it determines what property can be used or distributed for the benefit of the debtor’s creditors. Defined by section 541 of the Bankruptcy Code, “property of the estate” broadly encompasses the debtor’s interests in property, with certain additions and exceptions provided for in the Code. See 11 U.S.C. § 541. Difficult questions can arise in a contractual relationship between a debtor and a counterparty about whether an entity actually owns a particular asset or merely has some contractual right.

In a provocative demonstration that it scrutinizes all types of transactions, no matter their origin, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFIUS”) has reportedly been vetting the proposed $1 billion sale of bankrupt crypto lender Voyager Digital’s assets to Binance.US. Voyager Digital filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July 2022, and, after an initial agreement to sell its assets to FTX crumbled, Binance.US provided Voyager Digital with the winning offer for its assets in December 2022. But, after the sale’s announcement on December 30, 2022, the U.S.

A modification of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan on the eve of the hearing on confirmation of that plan requires re-solicitation of votes and re-voting if the modification materially and adversely affects a class of claims or interests, i.e., equity holders, according to the Eleventh Circuit’s opinion in In re America-CV Station Group, Inc., 56 F.4th 1302 (11th Cir. Jan. 5, 2023).

１  はじめに

ファクタリングという言葉を聞かれたことがあると思います。ただ，ファクタリングと一口に言っても，複数の形式があり，主  として売掛債権の資金化のために行うもの（債権の売買）と，   貸倒れリスクを軽減するためファクタリング会社が債務保証を する保証形式のものとがあり，前者は担保付きの資金融資

（すなわち，売掛債権を譲渡担保とした金銭消費貸借契約）  と接近する側面があります。

そこで，法的には，債権の売買となるのか，担保付きの資金 融資なのかは重要な問題となります。また，ファクタリングは， 法的倒産手続との関係でも様々な論点が出てきます。本稿では，ある裁判例を題材に，ファクタリングと倒産手続につい  て検討してみたいと思います。

２　裁判例について 

On Monday, January 30, 2023, the Third Circuit in In re LTL Management, LLC¹ ordered debtor LTL Management, LLC’s (“LTL”) chapter 11 petition dismissed for failure to demonstrate that the petition was filed in good faith pursuant to the Bankruptcy Code.² The dismissal of LTL’s bankruptcy will also result in the termination of an injunction staying numerous lawsuits against third-parties—including lawsuits against certain third-party retailers being sued for allegedly having sold certain allegedly contaminated products.

In 2022, there were several high-profile crypto bankruptcy filings. A big question in these cases is whether there will be any money to satisfy unsecured creditor claims. If there are funds to distribute, then the creditors’ claims will become more valuable, and the cases will become even more interesting.

Ignorance of the law is no excuse. We all learned that in law school. Still, you don’t know what you don’t know. And when it comes to bankruptcy law, too many of us just don’t know some basics, like how to protect your fee. Non-bankruptcy lawyers routinely represent debtors or their litigation opponents in non-bankruptcy disputes, such as personal injury claims. To comply with your duty to competently represent clients who are in bankruptcy or litigating against a debtor, and to protect your fee, know these fundamentals.