Once a company files a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition (to sell its assets, reorganize or liquidate), Bankruptcy Code § 1114 sets forth a detailed procedure for the employer to follow to modify or terminate certain retiree benefits. Among other things, § 1114 imposes on the employer the burden of showing that the elimination or modification of benefits is necessary to permit reorganization.

Recently, the Chapter 7 Trustee (the "Trustee") in the HRP Myrtle Beach Holdings bankruptcy, filed several avoidance actions pursuant to sections 547, 548, and 549 of the Bankruptcy Code. The avoidance actions, filed in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, are before the Honorable Kevin J. Carey, Chief Judge of the Delaware Bankruptcy Court.

On July 13, 2010, a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit unanimously held that auto-parts supplier Visteon Corporation could not terminate health and life insurance benefits for approximately 2,100 retirees during its chapter 11 bankruptcy unless Visteon followed the specific requirements laid out in section 1114 of the Bankruptcy Code, even if Visteon would have had the unilateral right to terminate these benefits outside bankruptcy.1 The Court found that a debtor may terminate any retiree benefits in bankruptcy only if,inter alia, the debt

Introduction

The Board of Directors of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, or FDIC, voted on Friday, October 8, 2010, to approve a proposed rule clarifying how the agency would treat certain creditor claims under the new orderly liquidation authority established under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.

Full text of the Court's opinion

In a 7-0 decision, the Ohio Supreme Court in Hudson v. Petrosurance, Inc., Slip Opinion No. 2010-Ohio-4505, held that the Ohio's Liquidation Act does not authorize the Superintendent of Insurance to pay interest to an insurer’s creditors and other preferred claimants on allowed claims before paying the funds remaining in the insolvent estate to the insurer's shareholders.

I. Introduction.

On October 12th, the FDIC published for comment proposed rules on how the agency would treat certain creditor claims under the new orderly liquidation authority established under the Dodd-Frank Act. The proposed rules bar any additional payments to holders of long-term senior debt, subordinated debt or equity interests that would result in those creditors recovering more than other creditors entitled to the same priority of payments under the law.

On October 12, the FDIC issued a notice of proposed rulemaking for a rule clarifying how the FDIC would treat certain creditor claims under the new liquidation authority, established under the Dodd-Frank Act, for financial companies whose insolvency would pose a significant risk to the financial stability of the United States.

Earlier today, the FDIC announced that the FDIC Board of Directors voted on Friday, October 8, 2010 to approve the issuance of a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPR) regarding the treatment of certain creditor claims under the FDIC’s new orderly liquidation authority established under Title II of the