On Sunday, December 27, 2020, President Trump signed into law the Consolidated Appropriations Act, which provides $900 billion in a second wave of economic stimulus relief for industries and individuals faced with challenges from the COVID-19 coronavirus.
The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed that a state court’s finding of “willful and malicious injury” in connection with the misappropriation of trade secrets entitled the plaintiff, in the defendant’s subsequent bankruptcy proceeding, to summary judgment of nondischargeability on collateral estoppel grounds. In re Hill, Case No. 19-5861 (6th Cir. May 4, 2020) (Donald, J.).
In collaboration with our foreign law firm partners, we continue to update our chart of COVID-19 measures taken by governments around the world. Today’s update includes new information for many countries as indicated in the chart: Global Government Measures Taken in Response to COVID-19.
On March 27, 2020, Congress enacted, and President Trump signed into law, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act to provide financial relief to individuals and small business harmed by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The CARES Act included an initial allocation of $349 billion to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), a convertible loan program under Section 7 of the Small Business Act (SBA).
Paycheck Protection Program Loans Under the CARES Act
The Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”), adopted as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which passed Congress on March 27, 2020 and was signed by President Trump the following day, provides forgivable loans guaranteed by the government to certain employers, with forgiveness of the loans dependent upon maintaining certain employment levels for the six months following the loan. A second PPP round was authorized in late April and is currently in process.
As April rent came due, we armed you with what New York landlords and property managers need to know to formulate their business strategy. (Click here to see Part 1.) Payment of rent on April 1 turned out to be a mixed bag, with some properties experiencing a high level of payment or partial payment and some not. Payment of May rent is expected to be worse than April.
In this Part 2, we update you as the pandemic continues.
In August 2019, President Donald Trump signed the Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019 (SBRA or “the Act”) into law in an effort to address the fact that small businesses have struggled to reorganize under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code. 11 U.S.C. §§ 1181-1195 (Subchapter V). The goal of the Act was to make these bankruptcies faster and cheaper for all the parties involved.
GOVERNANCE & SECURITIES LAW FOCUS
JULY 2020/LATIN AMERICA EDITION
Below is a summary of the main developments in U.S., EU, and U.K. corporate governance and securities law since our last update in May 2020.
See our page dedicated to the latest financial regulatory developments.
IN THIS ISSUE
Bankruptcy experts are applauding a proposed change to the Paycheck Protection Program that will allow small business debtors to access loans under federal COVID-19 relief packages, correcting what they say was a mistake in early versions of the aid program that left bankrupt companies without a valuable tool for surviving the pandemic.
As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, Arizona banks and their borrowers are facing economic uncertainty. Bankruptcy filings are on the rise, and many eligible borrowers are opting to file under the Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019 (SBRA), a new fast-track bankruptcy option that alters lenders’ and other creditors’ rights in certain Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases.
The SBRA is quickly becoming an important tool for debtors in bankruptcy as the effects of COVID-19 are felt across the country.