The Federal Court in Morgan, in the matter of Traditional Values Management Limited (in liq)[2024] FCA 74, approved an abridged process that allowed the liquidator to admit debts of a group of unsecured creditors without requiring a formal proof of debt.
Key Takeaways
This is the third in a series of four articles on why Fed.R.Bankr.P. 9031, titled “Masters Not Authorized,” needs to be amended to authorize the utilization of special masters in complex bankruptcy cases.
The focus of this third article is on how the evolution of the old bankruptcy referees into today’s bankruptcy courts shows why special masters are needed in complex bankruptcy cases—and should not have been prohibited.[Fn. 1]
The Evolution of Bankruptcy
The transition to online shopping, interest rate increases, labor costs, maturing debt and rising inflation have collectively taken a significant toll on the retail industry, contributing to store closures and a growing number of bankruptcy filings by retail companies in recent years. Nearly 30 retailers sought bankruptcy protection in 2023. Some retailers have even filed for bankruptcy twice.
In the case involving Precision Business Consulting LLC (Precision) and debtor-appellee Jill Suzann Medley, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit delivered a decisive opinion that sheds light on the treatment of factoring companies as lenders within the context of bankruptcy proceedings. This analysis emerges from Precision’s appeal against a civil contempt order for its willful violation of the automatic stay provision under 11 U.S.C. § 362, operational during Medley’s Chapter 13 bankruptcy petition.
In this note, we provide a high-level overview of key restructuring cases from last year in the US, Asia Pacific and Australia and consider the outlook in 2024 for restructuring transactions.
US
The Aldrich Pump Texas Two-Step bankruptcy may have survived dismissal at the bankruptcy court level, but now the asbestos claimants have appealed to the Fourth Circuit following Judge Whitley's approval of their motion for direct appeal.1
Publicly, Diamond Finance Co. (“Diamond”) provided car loans to individuals with less-than-stellar credit. While Diamond did have “some actual business,” its purpose “quickly became a front to lure unsuspecting investors.”
Introducción
En la edición de este mes de febrero destacamos dos interesantes sentencias de la Audiencia Provincial de Valencia:
With the increase in global trade and business, often involving complex corporate structures in multiple jurisdictions, we expect to see a significant increase in cross-border insolvency and restructuring matters in coming years. This is especially the case with rapid advancements in technology and digital change driving “borderless” transactions and investments in every industry.
In brief
On 18 January 2024, the Singapore International Commercial Court (SICC) issued its decision in Re PT Garuda Indonesia (Persero) Tbk [2024] SGHC(I) ("Re Garuda Indonesia"), which was the SICC's first decision on an application under the UNCITRAL Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency (as enacted in Singapore in the Third Schedule of the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act 2018 (2020 Rev Ed) ("Singapore Model Law")).