In a decision last month in Whyte v. SemGroup Litig. Trust (In re Semcrude L.P.), No. 14-4356, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 7690 (3d Cir. Apr. 28, 2016), the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit held that proving that a debtor was left with unreasonably small capital will not turn on either hindsight or a “speculative exercise” based on what might have happened if certain things were known at the time.

The Royal Decree-Law 1/2015 dated February 27, 2015 (the “RDL”) seeks to implement urgent measures to, among other things, reduce individual debtors’ financial burden.

In September 2010, the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia denied a reclaiming seller rights despite the claimant’s service of a timely written reclamation demand and compliance with a reclamation procedures order and section 546(c) of the Bankruptcy Code.

Section 546(c) of the Bankruptcy Code provides that:

In a recently published opinion, Judge John K. Olson of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida permitted the bankruptcy estates of TOUSA, Inc. and its debtor subsidiaries to avoid and recover more than $1 billion of liens and cash that the debtors had transferred to secured lenders in a transaction entered into six months prior to the debtors’ chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of TOUSA, Inc. v. Citicorp North America, Inc., 2009 Bankr. LEXIS 3311 (Bankr. S.D. Fla. Oct. 13, 2009).

Re Powerhouse Limited: Prudential Assurance Company Limited v PRG Powerhouse Limited [2007] EWHC 1002 Ch Guarantees are widely used in commercial transactions to provide assurance to creditors that debts or other obligations owed to them are discharged fully in the event the principal debtor fails to perform. This assurance was shaken by the steps taken in early 2006 by PRG Powerhouse Limited (Powerhouse) to enter into a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) that contained proposals to release certain parent company guarantees given to landlords of premises being vacated by Powerhouse.

Recently, lawyers for 50 Cent fought against the appointment of a bankruptcy examiner to investigate Instagram photos the rapper posted of himself lying next to piles of hundred dollar bills. In one picture, the bills spelled out the word “BROKE.” The humor of the photos was lost on the Office of the U.S. Trustee, who viewed the postings as disrespectful of the bankruptcy process and possible evidence that 50 Cent committed bankruptcy fraud by concealing assets from his creditors.

Significant improvements have been made to creditors’ rights in Russian bankruptcy proceedings by amendments made on January 29, 2015. The Federal Laws No. 432-FZ “On Amending Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation” and No. 482-FZ “On Amending the Federal Law on Insolvency and Administrative Offences Code” (together, the Amending Laws) came into force in Russia. The Amending Laws significantly modify the Federal Law “On Insolvency” and, to a certain extent, improve creditors’ rights in Russian bankruptcy proceedings. Further changes come into force on July 1, 2015.

In 2007, the Delaware Supreme Court issued an important ruling for creditors of insolvent corporations. It held that such creditors had standing to assert derivative claims for breaches of fiduciary duties against directors of an insolvent corporation.1 But, as the Delaware Court of Chancery recently made clear, there is a big difference between Delaware limited liability companies (LLCs) and their corporate cousins.

On December 1, 2009, numerous changes to the time periods applicable in bankruptcy cases took effect. These changes, which will impact creditors and debtors alike, are relatively straightforward but must be carefully reviewed and thoroughly understood. Time plays a critical role in the administration of bankruptcy cases, affecting the degree of notice a party is required to give before certain actions can be taken or approved by the bankruptcy court as well as deadlines for filing various documents, asserting various rights and satisfying certain statutory obligations.

From 6 April 2016, debtors in England and Wales who wish to enter bankruptcy will need to apply online and will no longer be able to petition the Court. The final form statutory instruments to introduce the necessary changes were published on 22 February 2016.