At the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) open meeting on April 14, the CFTC unanimously approved proposed amendments to Part 190 of its rules governing bankruptcy proceedings of commodity brokers, including futures commission merchants (FCMs) and derivatives clearing organizations (DCOs). The proposed amendments are intended to comprehensively update Part 190 to reflect current market practices. Among other revisions, the proposed amendments to Part 190 would:
The CFTC proposed amendments intended to "comprehensively update" its bankruptcy regulations (Part 190 of the CFTC regulations) to "reflect current market practices and lessons learned."
In the proposal, the CFTC provided:
Ice Miller is carefully monitoring the rapidly changing developments of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. It is our goal to provide you with the most up-to-date information available, along with advice on best practices and strategies to minimize loss and maximize long-term financial stability.
Below are some strategies for assessing exposure and preparing and responding to bad debt, slow-paying or delinquent counter-parties, bankruptcies or related creditors' rights litigation. Note: The steps and strategies below should be pursued simultaneously despite the numbered steps.
The National Economic Research Associates ("NERA"), an economic consulting firm, demonstrated in a recent article how economic analysis can be used to assess allegations related to credit default swaps ("CDS") and the creditworthiness of a company.
In Part 1, we discussed how, despite widespread usage, termination in the event of bankruptcy clauses (“ipso facto” clauses) are generally unenforceable pursuant to the bankruptcy code. In this second part, we discuss why these clauses are still prevalent in commercial transactions and the exceptions that allow for enforceability in certain situations.
Why Do Ipso Facto Clauses Remain in Most Contracts?
If ipso facto clauses are generally not enforceable, then why do practically all commercial agreements continue to include them? There are several reasons.
On July 31, 2018 the International Swaps and Derivatives Association published the ISDA 2018 US Resolution Stay Protocol (the US Protocol). The US Protocol is intended to enable parties to ISDA Master Agreements and similar Protocol Covered Agreements (PCAs) to contractually recognize the cross-border application of special resolution regimes applicable to global systemically important entities and their affiliates.
In this article, we provide a broad overview of the US Protocol and relevant resolution stay rules, then describe the effect and operation of the US Protocol.
Both the First Energy Solutions and PG&E bankruptcies have seen proceedings regarding power purchase and similar agreements (PPAs) that raise this question.
Background
Contracts often contain provisions that enable a party to terminate or modify the contract based on the other party's bankruptcy filing, insolvency or deteriorating financial condition. In general, the Bankruptcy Code renders these types of provisions (sometimes referred to as "ipso facto" clauses) ineffective. Specifically, under section 365(e)(1) of the Bankruptcy Code (emphasis added):
In Short:
The Situation: Fears of a potential short-squeeze in the upcoming Sears CDS auction have kicked off disputes in a variety of venues.
The Result: One of these disputes caused the fourth-ever convening of an ISDA CDS Determinations Committee external review panel and another made its way before the Sears bankruptcy court.
The Sears bankruptcy case made headlines this month in the complex world of credit default swaps (CDS). A credit default swap is a contract pursuant to which the seller receives payment from a buyer in exchange for which the seller must compensate the buyer in the event of a default or other specified credit event.