As the Madoff Securities and Stanford Financial schemes have unraveled in recent months, financial industry participants have had to scrutinize closely their involvement with these entities. A key issue in each of these cases will be the extent to which the trustee (or similar representative) can “claw back” payments made as part of the Ponzi and related fraudulent schemes. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York recently considered similar facts in Bayou Accredited Fund, LLC v. Redwood Growth Partners, L.P.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit recently issued a decision that has the potential to have a major impact on how contracts that provide for physical delivery of commodities are treated under U.S. bankruptcy law.
After a relatively brief and checkered stint in Delaware courts, it appears that the cause of action against corporate directors for “deepening insolvency” may have lost its place in Delaware corporate jurisprudence.
The Securities and Exchange Commission announced yesterday that it has filed civil fraud charges against several entities and individuals who operate the Reserve Primary Fund, including its founder Bruce Bent and his son Bruce Bent II, “for failing to provide key material facts to investors and trustees about the fund’s vulnerability after as
In an opinion issued May 12, 2009, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals determined that a Michigan contractor’s obligations to a subcontractor would not be discharged. Sameer Patel v. Shamrock Floorcovering Services, Inc. No. 08-1265.
The recent ruling by the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Montana in the Chapter 11 case of In re Yellowstone Mountain Club LLC 1 (“Yellowstone”), which found that a senior secured lender had engaged in “overreaching and predatory lending practices”, suggests an application of lender liability theory from today’s perspective to a transaction that took place before the credit crisis.
In Hutson v. E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit recently determined that a judgment-debtor's transfer of property to a transferee with knowledge of the judgment was voidable under the Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act. See For Your Ease Only, Inc. v. Calgon Carbon Corp., 560 F.3d 717 (7th Cir. 2009).
Though the transferee had given reasonably equivalent value to the judgment-debtor in exchange for the transfer, the court found that the transferee did not take the judgment debtor's assets in good faith because its principal knew that judgment had been entered.
With the economic crisis leading to the failure of many businesses, bankruptcy cases are on the rise. In many of the cases grabbing headlines, such as Lehman Brothers, Nellson Nutraceutical, New Century and SemCrude, courts have shown a willingness to appoint examiners to investigate, report on and make recommendations regarding possible issues of mismanagement, fraud or other improprieties relating to the affairs of the debtor or its former or current management.
Two D&O insurers have asked the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Minnesota to lift an automatic stay in a bankruptcy proceeding pending against their insureds so that the insurers can pursue their coverage defenses as counterclaims against the insureds in a pending declaratory judgment action.In Re Petters Company, Inc., et al., Case No. 08-45257 (Bankr. D. Minn.).