Last month, District Court Judge Shira A. Scheindlin of the Southern District of New York affirmed a bankruptcy court ruling which held that the environmental cleanup obligations of debtor Mark IV Industries, Inc. were not discharged in bankruptcy.2 Given the current legal landscape, Mark IV may make the likelihood of discharging environmental claims even more difficult, potentially undermining chapter 11 as an optimal alternative for companies saddled with environmental liabilities.
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.
Recent Developments in Bankruptcy Law, April 2016 (Covering cases reported through 545 B.R. 785 and 810 F.3d 860) RICHARD LEVIN Partner +1 (212) 891-1601 [email protected] © Copyright 2016 Jenner & Block LLP. 353 North Clark Street Chicago, IL 60654-3456. Jenner & Block is an Illinois Limited Liability Partnership including professional corporations. Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
In a dispute that once generated the “largest environmental bankruptcy award ever,” the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York this month issued a decision further clarifying the effects of the monumental 2014 bankruptcy settlement agreement. The February 1, 2016 decision in In re Tronox Incorporated, No.
Prepackaged Bankruptcy Offers Investors a Quick Return to Liquidity Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases are typically lengthy and expensive, potentially lasting years and costing millions of dollars in fees and expenses. One valuable technique to minimize a debtor’s time in Chapter 11, reduce cost and disruption, and still secure the benefits of a Chapter 11 plan is a prepackaged bankruptcy (also called a “prepack”). In a prepack, a debtor negotiates the terms of a chapter 11 plan and solicits votes prior to the bankruptcy filing.
W.R. Grace agreed to pay $250 million to the federal government for costs related to the investigation and remediation of asbestos contamination in Libby, Montana. W.R. Grace, a global supplier of specialty chemicals, owned and operated a vermiculite mine and vermiculite processing facilities in Libby from 1963 to 1990. The company and 61 affiliated companies filed for bankruptcy in April 2001. The settlement resolves a bankruptcy claim filed by the federal government to recover funds necessary to cleanup contaminated schools, homes, and businesses in Libby.
With approximately 7,000 asbestos-related lawsuits pending against it, Hercules Chemical has filed for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11. The company is a manufacturer of chemicals for the plumbing industry. In ``Dispelling the Myths of Asbestos Litigation: Solutions for Common Law Courts,`` Rick Faulk discussed problems in the asbestos-driven toxic tort litigation system – a system that has led many companies to Chapter 11.
Only twice has the U.S. Supreme Court spoken directly to environmental issues in bankruptcy – until now. Today the Supreme Court ruled that certain claims can in fact be barred by a bankruptcy court's channeling injunction. The case is particularly important in light of the major corporate bankruptcies now under way in the industrial sector, where environmental costs can drive the success or failure of a restructuring.
The Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals recently ruled that an environmental clean-up obligation under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (“RCRA”) is not dischargeable in bankruptcy, even when the debtor no longer has any internal clean-up operations and would have to contract a third party to provide such services at significant cost.
In U.S. v. Apex Oil, a three-judge panel of the Seventh Circuit ruled 3-0 that EPA’s cleanup injunction against the corporate successor to a chemical company was not discharged in Chapter 11 because the injunction does not create a right to payment and, consequently, is not a ‘debt’ under the Bankruptcy Code.