The Law on Enterprise and Law on Investment that took effect in 2015 introduced refreshing changes to Vietnam’s investment and business landscape. Designed to stimulate and better facilitate foreign investments in the country, the two new laws have since given rise to several implementing regulations that expound on important subjects such as foreign ownership up to 100% in listed companies, private public partnerships, trade, and representative offices.

Delaware companies take note: a state court has ruled that companies in apparent good financial health may not use the bankruptcy process to avoid shareholder approval of an asset sale—even in situations in which a shareholder vote may be difficult to obtain.

A business consultant who contracted to receive a percentage of a company’s shares in exchange for helping the company go public—but never actually received those shares and obtained a money judgment against the company instead—was not a holder of equity for purposes of subordination under the Bankruptcy Code, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has determined.

In 2013 yieldcos began their exponential climb as a financing vehicle for energy projects. Yieldcos were touted as a transformational vehicle for unlocking value in electric generation assets and reducing capital costs. In 2015 the yieldco market crashed down to earth, dropping 43 percent in average value. The tailspin has continued into 2016.

The District Court sustained claims of breach of fiduciary duty, fraud and deepening insolvency asserted by the successor-in-interest to the Committee of Unsecured Creditors of DVI, a defunct company, against DVI’s former officers and directors.

Law360, New York (May 5, 2016, 12:02 PM ET) -- A core principle of bankruptcy tax litigation holds that “bankruptcy courts have universally recognized their jurisdiction to consider tax issues brought by the debtor, limited only by their discretion to abstain.” IRS v. Luongo, 259 F.3d 323, 329-330 (5th Cir. 2001) (citing In re Hunt, 95 B.R. 442, 445 (Bankr. N.D. Tex. 1989). The Second Circuit recently departed from that generally accepted principle in United States v. Bond, 762 F.3d 255 (2d Cir. 2014).

IRS Clarifies That a Typical “Bad Boy Guarantee” Will Not Cause an Otherwise Nonrecourse Financing to Be Treated as Recourse

On April 15, 2016, the IRS released a generic legal advice memorandum (the “GLAM”)¹ providing an important and helpful clarification of the treatment of a guarantee of a partnership nonrecourse liability when the guarantee is conditioned on certain typical “nonrecourse carve-out” events (commonly referred to as “bad boy guarantees”).

New York Washington, D.C. Los Angeles Palo Alto London Paris Frankfurt Tokyo Hong Kong Beijing Melbourne Sydney www.sullcrom.com April 14, 2016 Related-Party Debt / Equity Regulations IRS Issues Proposed Regulations Intended to Limit Earnings Stripping but Which—if Finalized—Would Broadly Change the U.S. Tax Treatment of Related-Party Indebtedness SUMMARY On April 4, 2016, the IRS and Treasury Department issued proposed regulations (the “Proposed Regulations”) that would—if finalized in their current form—treat related-party debt as equity for U.S. tax purposes in certain circumstances.

A recent decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, In re Tribune Company Fraudulent Conveyance Litigation,¹ represents a significant victory for shareholders who may get cashed out in connection with a leveraged transaction that precedes a company bankruptcy.

In a typical application of the veil piercing remedy, an equity holder is held liable for the debts of the corporate entity it owns and controls. The tests courts use for determining when the remedy is available vary, but generally veil piercing may occur only where the equity holder has abused the corporate form, by using its control over an entity to commit a fraud or other injustice.