While some fans of the Cleveland Indians have long complained about the frugality of owner Paul Dolan, at least Mr. Dolan has never had trouble making payroll. In perhaps the biggest event to occur off the field since Walter O'Malley moved the team from Brooklyn, the Los Angeles Dodgers filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware on June 27, 2011.
As many creditors have unfortunately discovered, the Bankruptcy Code allows a debtor to sue the creditor for certain payments – called preferences – that the creditor received from the debtor prior to the bankruptcy.
On March 30, 2021, Houston-based retail power provider Entrust Energy, Inc., filed a petition for relief under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code in the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas (Case No. 21-31070). The company reports $100 to $500 million in assets and $50 to $100 million in liabilities.
Early evening on February 23, 2021, Belk Inc. and its affiliates (collectively, “Belk”) filed their Chapter 11 bankruptcy petitions in the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas. Less than seventeen hours later, Judge Marvin Isgur confirmed Belk’s pre-packed plan of reorganization. Belk is not the first Chapter 11 bankruptcy case to accomplish plan confirmation within the first twenty-four hours after filing a petition, and it certainly won’t be the last. In 2019, Sungard Availability Services Capital, Inc.
Fernando Daniel Hernandez, Marval O’Farrell & Mairal
This is an extract from the 2020 edition of the Americas Restructuring Review, published by Global Restructuring Review. The whole publication is available here.
In summary
Recent Developments
Introduction
Welcome to the 3rd edition of Going Concerns where we strive to bring you the latest updates on restructuring and insolvency law. In this issue, we provide:
1. An update on the extent of financial disclosure that may be ordered against a company undergoing a scheme moratorium under s. 211B(6) of the Singapore Companies Act (Cap. 50);
2. A further commentary on the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Bill; 3. A commentary on the Singapore recognition process of foreign bankruptcies;
What is a debt restructuring?
The aim of any restructuring (also sometimes called a workout) is to rearrange the debtor’s financial commitments so that it is able to service its restructured debts and survive as a going concern. It is important to note that this is a consensual process and is not undertaken under the supervision of a court or other supervisory body - therefore, it is important the all creditors are involved.
If it’s voluntary, how does it work?
Introduction
As the name suggests, the UNCITRAL Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency 1997 (Model Law) seeks to address complexities caused where insolvencies cross borders, while leaving substantive insolvency laws of each country largely unaltered. However, as jurisdictions continue to adopt and interpret the Model Law, inconsistencies in its application are coming to light.