It has long been the case that secured creditors could be charged for the reasonable and necessary costs incurred to preserve the value of their collateral. This equitable principle emerges out of case law that predates not only the current Bankruptcy Code, but also its immediate predecessor, the Bankruptcy Act of 1938. As now codified in section 50
By the authority of the Heavenly Court, and by the authority of the earthly court, we hold it permissible to pray with those who have transgressed… — Kol Nidrei (Preamble)
Two recent decisions from the District Court for the Southern District of New York have renewed interest in the Trust Indenture Act and the ability of minority bondholders to use it as a shield to protect its rights in an out-of-court nonconsensual restructuring: Marblegate Asset Management, LLC v.
In melodramatic movie weddings, guests are urged, before the couple is joined in matrimony, to “speak now or forever hold their peace” (although this phrase never seems to work its way into actual wedding ceremonies – presumably because there are no longer legitimate objections to a marriage that guests should be voicing at the wedding).
As cross-border restructurings proliferate, especially in the wake of the global COVID-19 pandemic, companies with global assets and operations may utilize chapter 15 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code (the “Bankruptcy Code”) to facilitate cooperation between U.S. and foreign bankruptcy courts and protect assets located in the U.S. One doctrine central to relief under chapter 15 is the principle of comity, which refers to the recognition one nation’s legal system accords to another nation’s judicial proceedings. In chapter 15 proceedings, U.S.
On 24 February, the Government published draft regulations that, if implemented, will impose new restrictions on pre-pack administration sales to connected parties. For all `substantial disposals' (which will include `pre-pack' sales) to connected parties, taking place within eight weeks of the administrators' appointment, the administrators will either need creditor consent or a report from an independent `evaluator'.
Context
In an important decision issued at the end of August, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, in In re Tribune Co., Case No. 18-2909 (3d Cir. Aug. 26, 2020), held that subordination agreements need not be strictly enforced when confirming a chapter 11 plan pursuant to the Bankruptcy Code’s cramdown provision in section 1129(b)(1). In its decision, the Third Circuit also encouraged bankruptcy courts to apply “a more flexible unfair-discrimination standard” and set forth eight guiding principles to aid in that effort.
The Supreme Court, in Ritzen Group, Inc. v. Jackson Masonry, LLC,1 issued an unanimous opinion last week, ruling that the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit correctly denied the ability of creditor Ritzen Group Inc.
In a recent opinion – In re Heritage Home Group LLC, et al., Case No. 18-11736 (KG), 2018 WL 4684802 (Bankr. D. Del. Sept. 27, 2018) – the Delaware Bankruptcy Court addressed the longstanding issue of which professional persons must be retained under section 327(a) of the Bankruptcy Code.