In a bout of déjà vu, the Supreme Court decided to hear California Public Employees’ Retirement System v. ANZ Securities, Inc., et al. to settle the issue of whether the Securities Act of 1933’s (the “Securities Act”) three-year statute of repose is subject to tolling.[1] On June 26, 2017, the Supreme Court made the following noteworthy and defendant-friendly holdings:

On May 8, 2017, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Florida entered an order compelling production of attorney-client communications between Regions Bank and its counsel, finding that Regions had put those communications “at issue” by raising a good faith affirmative defense under 11 U.S.C. § 548(c) in response to a fraudulent transfer claim brought against it. Welch v. Regions Bank (In re Mongelluzzi), No. 8:14-ap-00653-CED (Bankr. M.D. Fla. May 8, 2017), ECF No. 319 (Delano, J.) (herein Mongelluzzi).

We have previously posted about a couple major milestones for Green Field Energy – here Green Field Energy Files for Bankruptcy Protection in Delaware and here: Green Field Energy Services – Preference A

(S.D. Ind. June 27, 2017)

In the May 2017 issue of Debt Dialogue, we discussed the recent decision by Judge Martin Glenn of the U.S.

On June 8, 2017, Clifford J. White III, director of the U.S. Trustee Program(“UST Program”)[1], proclaimed before a congressional subcommittee that “debtors with assets or income derived from marijuana may not proceed through the bankruptcy system.”

From the Bankruptcy Court for the District of South Carolina :

In McCall v. Anderson Brothers Bank (In re McCall), Adv. Pro. No. 16-80008-jw (Bankr. D.S.C. 2016), the Honorable John E. Waites held that a creditor did not willfully violate the automatic stay under the particular facts of the case where the creditor initially refused to return a vehicle to the Debtor after she filed a Chapter 13 case and demanded the vehicle’s return.

(Bankr. S.D. Ind. June 26, 2017)

The bankruptcy court dismisses without prejudice the debtor’s complaint against a foreclosing creditor because the court concludes it lacks subject matter jurisdiction. The debtor filed the complaint alleging numerous causes of action, including violations of the automatic stay. However, the alleged acts occurred at a time when the subject property was no longer property of the estate. Opinion below.

Judge: Carr

Attorneys for Debtor: Sabin, Shea & Des Jardines LLC, J. Andrew Sabin

On January 24, 2017, victims of Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme lost their appeal of a bankruptcy court decision barring them from suing an alleged Madoff co-conspirator because of a third-party injunction contained in a settlement between the alleged co-conspirator and the Trustee liquidating Madoff’s scheme. See A & G Goldman Partnership v. Capital Growth Company (In re Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC), 565 B.R. 510, 514-515 (S.D.N.Y. Jan.

(Bankr. E.D. Ky. June 21, 2017)

The bankruptcy court grants the defendant’s motion to dismiss the trustee’s complaint, which sought to avoid transfers from debtors to the defendant. The complaint failed to state a claim, in part because the defendant could not be deemed an “insider” of the debtor. The court additionally finds that the complaint contains insufficient facts to support various other claims. Opinion below.

Judge: Wise

Attorneys for Trustee: Bingham Greenbaum Doll LLP, Claude R. Bowles, Jr., Daniel J. Donnellon, James R. Irving, April A. Wimberg