Many of the measures of the French Ordinance No. 2020-596 of 20 May 2020, adapting pre-insolvency and insolvency French rules in response to the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic, were due to expire on 31 December 2020.
The French law on Acceleration and Simplification of Public Action n°2020-1525 of 7 December 2020 now extends them until December 31, 2021.
The extended measures are as follows:
The year 2020 is drawing to an end and the construction industry is gearing up for what is typically referred to as the builders break over the December holidays. A lot of construction companies will find the 2020 builder’s break to be very different to those of previous years, due to the negative impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the construction industry, and the world at large.
If you’re an unsecured creditor, it can be harder to get payment from a bankrupt debtor. But to have a chance of getting paid, you must file a proof of claim to assert your right to a distribution.
Richard J Cooper, Lisa M Schweitzer, Kara A Hailey and John H Veraja, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP
This is an extract from the 2021 edition of GRR's The Americas Restructuring Review. The whole publication is available here.
In summary
In Hafen v. Adams (In re Hafen), 616 B.R. 570 (B.A.P. 10th Cir. 2020), a bankruptcy appellate panel from the Tenth Circuit ("BAP") held that the bankruptcy court is the only court with subject-matter jurisdiction to decide whether a claim or cause of action is property of a debtors' bankruptcy estate. As a consequence, the BAP held that the bankruptcy court abused its discretion by permitting a state court to determine whether creditors had "standing" to sue third-party recipients of allegedly fraudulent transfers.
Postpetition financing provided by pre-bankruptcy shareholders or other "insiders" is not uncommon in chapter 11 cases as a way to fund a plan of reorganization and allow old shareholders to retain an ownership interest in the reorganized entity. The practice is typically sanctioned by bankruptcy courts under an exception—the "new value" exception—to the "absolute priority rule," which prohibits shareholders and junior creditors from receiving any distribution under a plan on account of their interests or claims unless senior creditors are paid in full or agree otherwise.
OVERVIEW
Originally published Dec. 9, 2020, on Law360.
With the COVID-19 pandemic depriving bankruptcy practitioners of our usual opportunities to meet in court and at conferences to discuss recent developments in the law, I spent time tracking developments in bankruptcy law within the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.
COVID PROTECTIONS EXTENDED TO GIVE BUSINESSES A LAST CHANCE TO PLAN RECOVERY. TIME TO CONSIDER A COVID-19 CVA?
If the announcements last week on the lack of downward tier revisions for many areas is the bad news, the silver lining for the struggling and affected businesses came in the reinstatement of the temporary suspension on the use of statutory demands and winding up petitions until 31 March 2021.
