On Friday, the Florida Office of Financial Regulationclosed Haven Trust Bank Florida, headquartered in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, and appointed the FDIC as receiver. As receiver, the FDIC entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with First Southern Bank, headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida, to assume all of the deposits of the failed bank.

On Friday, the Florida Office of Financial Regulation closed Wakulla Bank, headquartered in Crawfordville, Florida, and appointed the FDIC as receiver. As receiver, the FDIC entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with Centennial Bank, headquartered in Conway, Arkansas, to assume all of the deposits of the failed bank.

On Friday, the Florida Office of Financial Regulation closed First Bank of Jacksonville, headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, and appointed the FDIC as receiver.

On Friday, the Florida Office of Financial Regulation closed Progress Bank of Florida, headquartered in Tampa, Florida, and appointed the FDIC as receiver.

In a 113-page decision issued on February 11 (the "District Court Decision"), the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida (Gold, J.) delivered a blistering rebuke to the Florida Bankruptcy Court (Olson, J.) when it quashed the portions of the famous / infamous 2009 TOUSA decision (the "Trial Decision") holding the so-called "Transeastern Lenders" liable for fraudulent transfers in connection with T

Introduction

In a 113-page decision issued earlier today, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida (Gold, J.), quashed the famous / infamous decision of the Florida Bankruptcy Court holding the so-called “Transeastern Lenders” liable for fraudulent transfers in connection with TOUSA’s July 31, 2007 financing transactions (the “July 31 Loans”). In re TOUSA, Inc., Slip Op., Case No. 10-60017-CIV/GOLD (S.D. Fla. Feb. 11, 2011).

On February 11, 2011, in a decision that represents a significant victory for institutional lenders and other proponents of capital market financing, Judge Alan S. Gold of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida (the District Court) issued a 113 page opinion overturning a $480 million fraudulent transfer judgment entered by the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida (the Bankruptcy Court) against the so-called “Transeastern Lenders” in the TOUSA, Inc. (TOUSA) chapter 11 bankruptcy cases.i

On February 11, 2011, the Hon. Alan Gold of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida reversed the October 30, 2009 fraudulent conveyance finding issued by the Bankruptcy Court in the TOUSA case as it pertained to lenders involved in TOUSA’s Transeastern joint venture.

In a welcome bit of good news for lenders, US District Court Judge Gold (Southern District of Florida) reversed the portion of the 2009 bankruptcy court decision in the TOUSA, Inc. bankruptcy cases that had ordered the disgorgement of $403 million plus interest based on the holding that the amounts were received by certain lenders to the TOUSA parent in connection with a pre-petition transaction that constituted a fraudulent transfer.