Summary
On October 31, the MF Global enterprise collapsed into bankruptcy and a number of related insolvency proceedings. Amid allegations of improper commingling of customer accounts and rumors of misbegotten proprietary Eurobond trades, two unregulated entities – MF Global Finance USA Inc. and MF Global Holdings Ltd. (the Unregulated Debtors) – filed voluntary bankruptcy petitions on October 31, 2011. Later the same day, the Securities Investor Protection Corporation filed a complaint in the U.S.
On October 31, 2011, the Honorable Kevin J. Carey, Bankruptcy Judge of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, issued an opinion denying confirmation of two competing proposed plans of reorganization in the chapter 11 cases of In re Tribune Company, et al.
As expected the Harrisburg City Council has filed a reply to the numerous objections to the Chapter 9 filing of Harrisburg initiated by the City Council. The City Council’s brief (harrisburg response.pdf) appears to be the only timely filed reply to the objections to the Chapter 9 filing.
Introduction
The CFTC has confirmed that its Division of Enforcement is investigating MF Global, Inc. for possible violations of the Commodity Exchange Act, or CEA and/or CFTC regulations. Scott D. O’Malia, a CFTC Commissioner, stated certain Dodd-Frank rules should be reexamined in light of the MF Global bankruptcy.
Heide v. Juve, (In re David L. Juve and Mona L. Juve), No. 11-6006, (8th Cir. BAP 09/16/2011) (Judges Schermer, Federman, and Nail).
In a case of first impression, In re Qimonda AG, the Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia (the “Bankruptcy Court”) found that the protections of section 365(n) of the Bankruptcy Code are available to licensees of U.S. patents in a chapter 15 case even when these protections are not available under the foreign law applicable to the foreign debtor.
A World Series as exciting as any in memory ended two weeks ago. Notwithstanding the end of the season, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ chapter 11 case offered the promise of more baseball-related thrills. Dodger’s owner Frank McCourt and Major League Baseball (“MLB”) Commissioner Bud Selig appeared headed towards an epic courtroom showdown that promised to rival
A recent decision of the Delaware bankruptcy court serves as a reminder of a key risk for lenders who finance leveraged transactions—namely, that a bankruptcy court may “collapse” the components of a leveraged transaction in order to avoid the lender’s liens and the debtor’s loan obligations as fraudulent transfers.