Introduction
The automatic stay is one of the most fundamental bankruptcy protections. It enjoins the initiation or continuance of any action by any creditor against the debtor or the debtor’s property, including causes of action possessed by the debtor at time of the bankruptcy filing. The automatic stay offers this protection while bringing all of the debtor’s assets and creditors into the same forum, the bankruptcy court.
Introduction
The recent decision in the case of In re Erickson Retirement Communities, LLC, 425 B.R. 309 (Bankr. N.D. Tex. 2010) provides ammunition for those opposing the appointment of an examiner in a debtor’s Chapter 11 case and a cautionary tale for lenders entering into subordination agreements.
The Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recently held that Chapter 15 of the Bankruptcy Code does not prohibit a foreign representative from bringing an avoidance action so long as the claim for relief is based on the substantive laws of the jurisdiction where the foreign proceeding is located. The Fifth Circuit’s decision is consistent with the dual policy considerations of comity and predictability. Fogerty v. Petroquest Res., Inc. (In re Condor Ins. Ltd.), 601 F.3d 319 (5th Cir. 2010).
Background
Title II of the Act, designated "Orderly Liquidation Authority" – effective July 21, 2010 – establishes what is intended to be an orderly liquidation process for "financial companies" whose collapse or potential collapse are determined to constitute a risk to the financial system as a whole. Such systemically significant institutions would be liquidated under these new procedures, rather than being treated under existing bankruptcy laws. (The intent of Act is that most-failing financial companies will continue to be administered under existing bankruptcy laws.)
Earlier this month Alfred T Giuliano, the Chapter 7 Trustee for National Wholesale Liquidators, began filing various complaints seeking the avoidance and recovery of alleged preferential transfers. On November 19, 2008, I wrote on this blog about the commencement of the National Wholesale Liquidators ("NWL") bankruptcy (read my prior post concerning NWL here). As indicated in the prior post, NWL filed for bankruptcy with an agreement with its lenders that it would either find a buyer while in bankruptcy, or convert and liquidate under Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code.
I. Introduction
It is no surprise that there are risks inherent in doing business with a debtor in bankruptcy, including, of course, the risk that the debtor may not have the money to pay for goods sold to it on credit. Businesses can manage those risks by, for example, shortening trade credit terms, obtaining the debtor’s agreement to pay on delivery or in advance for product, or obtaining a deposit or letter of credit as security. But, once a debtor has paid for goods or services it actually received, most vendors would probably assume that the transaction cannot be challenged.
The FDIC is currently responding to one of the worst financial crises in the history of the nation’s banking system. Sheila Bair, Chairman of the FDIC, expects that 2010 “will be the high water mark for the banking crisis.”1 Just over the last two years, 268 banks have failed in the United States, which is nearly ten times the number of failed banks during the prior eight-year period.2
JELD-WEN, Inc v Van Brunt (In re Grossman’s Inc), (3d Cir No 09-1563, June 2, 2010)
CASE SNAPSHOT