In an important opinion released on November 27, 2012, Judge Shelley C. Chapman of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York transferred the Patriot Coal Corporation (Patriot Coal) chapter 11 bankruptcy cases from the Southern District of New York to the Eastern District of Missouri. This decision comes as a surprise to many observers who had expected, based on prior failed attempts to change venue in Enron and other large cases filed in the Southern District of New York, that Judge Chapman would defer to the Debtor’s choice of venue.
Sec. Investor Prot. Corp. v. Bernard L. Madoff Inv. Secs., 474 B.R. 76 (2012)
The trustee for the Securities Investor Protection Act ("SIPA") liquidation of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC ("BLMIS") filed a complaint in the bankruptcy court against Maxam Absolute Return Fund Ltd. ("Maxam"), seeking the return of about $100 million distributed to Maxam by BLMIS. Maxam answered the complaint and then sued the trustee in the Cayman Islands seeking a declaration that it was not required to return the money.
In re Vitro, S.A.B. de C.V., No. 11-33335-HDH-15 (Bankr. N.D. Tex. June 13, 2012)
Introduction
In a widely followed dispute, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals will soon render a decision on the appeal of a Texas Bankruptcy Court’s refusal to recognize non-debtor third party releases in the Mexican reorganization proceeding (concurso mercantil) of Mexican glass manufacturer Vitro SAB de CV. Wall Street and the capital markets will be watching this appeal closely as a reversal of the Bankruptcy Court would likely make lenders and bondholders extremely nervous about extending future credit to Mexican corporations.
In Deere Credit, Inc. v. Cervantes Nurseries, LLC, the Court of Appeals recognized that a parallel bankruptcy proceeding involving multiple creditors is not the same “action” for purposes of RCW 61.12.120’s bar against a plaintiff foreclosing on a mortgage “while he is prosecuting any other action for the same debt or matter which is secured by the mortgage.
BACKGROUND
The US Bankruptcy Court in Massachusetts says default rates must be justified as a reasonable measure of damages at the time of the making of the loan and that a floating default rate that can exceed 5% will not be allowed as part of a creditors claim in the borrower's bankruptcy. The loan was made in 2006 with a contract rate equal to prime at a time when the prime rate was below 13 percent.
Under Internal Revenue Code (“Code”) section 436, unless a defined benefit pension plan sponsored by a debtor in bankruptcy is fully funded, the plan may not make “prohibited payments” (i.e., lump sum payments or payments in any other form that exceed the monthly amount under a single life annuity). Moreover, the anti-cutback rule in Code section 411(d)(6) prohibits a plan from being amended to eliminate an optional form of benefit.
The intricacies of pursuing environmental claims against financially distressed parties
In a prolonged financial downturn, it is an even more difficult burden for many companies to shoulder their own environmental remediation requirements.Pollock’s article examines the steps to consider if a co-liable potentially responsible party (PRP) is either showing signs of economic distress or has already filed in bankruptcy.