Thomas Edison famously said that “opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” Consistent with Edison’s musings, companies in an acquisition mode often overlook opportunities that arise in the bankruptcy arena because they lack knowledge of the system and think bankruptcy is an unruly beast dressed in extra-large overalls.
Generally, the priority scheme in section 507 of the Bankruptcy Code dictates the order in which a creditor is paid.
On March 1, the Court of Appeals of Maryland, answering a question of law certified to it by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, held that the sale of repossessed automobiles at an auction where individuals had to pay a refundable $1,000 cash deposit was a "private sale", and not a "public auction," under the provisions of Maryland's Creditor Grantor Closed End Credit Act (CLEC). Gardner v. Ally Fin. Inc., Misc. No. 10, 2013 WL 765013 (Md. Mar. 1, 2013).
Earlier today, the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland issued a decision vacating maritime attachments of a vessel on the grounds that the attachments were futile in view of the Vessel Owner's bankruptcy proceedings. In Evridiki Navigation v. The Sanko Steamship Co., Ltd., Civil No. JKB-12-1382 (ECF Doc. # 135)(D. Md. Jul. 27, 2012), a vessel had been attached in Baltimore, Maryland, by use of Rule B of the Supplemental Rules for Admiralty and Maritime Claims.
A federal judge sitting in New York but applying Maryland law recently held that a Directors and Officers (D&O) insurer is not required to provide insurance coverage because the policyholder breached the policy’s consent-to-settle provision when it settled a securities class action without obtaining the carrier’s prior approval. Federal Ins. Co. v. SafeNet, Inc., 2011 WL 4005353 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 9, 2011).
In these uncertain times, boards of directors face many important decisions about a company’s present and future actions, including reduction or suspension of dividends, layoffs, asset sales, unsolicited takeover offers, liquidation and even insolvency proceedings. In making these decisions, directors should remember their overarching responsibility for continuing oversight and informed decision-making.
On Friday, OTS closed Waterfield Bank, headquartered in Germantown, Maryland and appointed the FDIC as receiver. As receiver, the FDIC created Waterfield Bank, FA, a new depository institution chartered by the OTS and insured by the FDIC, to take over the operations of Waterfield Bank. The new institution will remain open until April 5, 2010, “to allow depositors access to their insured funds and time to move accounts to other insured institutions.”
The U.S. Supreme Court issues its first-ever opinion—of any type—on August 3, 1791. [Fn. 1] But it does not address a bankruptcy question for quite some time thereafter. In fact, the first U.S. law on the subject of bankruptcy did not exist until the Bankruptcy Act of 1800.
First Bankruptcy Opinion
Generally, the priority scheme in section 507 of the Bankruptcy Code dictates the order in which a creditor is paid.