The Illinois legislature has passed and sent to the Governor an amendment to the Illinois Conveyances Act to address the decision in Crane v. The Gifford State Bank (2012 WL 669595 (Bkrtcy.C.D. Il). The Crane decision was rendered on February 29, 2012, and held that a mortgage could be avoided by a trustee in bankruptcy because it failed to include the interest rate and maturity date of the indebtedness secured by the mortgage.

The Government of Dubai issued a press release on 25 November 2009 confirming that, through its Supreme Fiscal Committee (SFC), it has authorised the Dubai Financial Support Fund (DFSF) to spearhead the restructuring of Dubai World with immediate effect. Aidan Birkett, Managing Director of Corporate Finance at Deloitte, has been appointed as Chief Restructuring Officer (CRO) to "oversee the restructuring process and ensure the continuity of Dubai World's operation".  

The Ontario Court of Appeal has confirmed the asset backed commercial paper CCAA Plan of Arrangement (2008 CaswellOnt 4811 (C.A.)). The reasoning of the Ontario Superior Court approving the Plan of Arrangement was reviewed in previous editions of this Newsletter.

The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit recently held that redemptions of commercial paper made through the Depositary Trust Company (DTC) are entitled to the “safe harbor” protections afforded to settlement payments under Bankruptcy Code Section 546(e), and are, therefore, not preferential transfers, even though such payments were made prior to maturity.1 The Second Circuit is the first Circuit Court of Appeal to address the issue, which arises out of the Enron bankruptcy case.

Legal Framework

The signs for the leveraged finance market in 2011 are mixed. Questions remain as to whether this year will see a fresh spate of restructurings and/or continued growth in primary issuance. Whilst data compiled by Fitch Ratings has shown that European PE backed company default rates slowed in 2010 (and premier league spending during the January transfer window topped £225 million compared with £30 million last year), the primary leveraged finance market has started slowly this year.

Recent development

Seeking to ensure that the market has sufficient available liquidity following the recent political and economic developments in Turkey, the Central Bank of Turkey (the "Central Bank") reduced the Turkish banks' reserve requirements for Turkish lira liabilities on August 10, 2016. The changes will take effect on August 12, 2016.

New TRY reserve requirements

The Central Bank has reduced the reserve requirement ratios for banks' Turkish Lira ("TRY") liabilities by 50 basis points for each maturity bracket:

Maturity New Ratios Previous Ratios

On June 28th, the Second Circuit held that payments made by Enron to redeem its commercial paper prior to maturity were not avoidable under the Bankruptcy Code. In doing so, the Court answers in the affirmative an issue of first impression among the appellate courts: whether the Bankruptcy Code's safe harbor, 11 U.S.C. Sec. 546(e), which shields settlement payments from avoidance in bankruptcy, extends to an issuer's payments to redeem its commercial paper prior to maturity.

In re Zais Investment Grade Ltd. VII1 is the latest in a recent line of bankruptcy cases challenging bedrock assumptions regarding securitization special purpose entities (SPEs) and bankruptcy considerations in securitization transactions.2 Zais establishes precedent allowing a senior noteholder of a collateralized debt obligation (CDO) to place the CDO issuer in an involuntary chapter 11 bankruptcy in order to advance an asset management plan that would otherwise require supermajority approval of all noteholders (including all junior classes) under the related indenture.

Judge John Koeltl in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York recently denied a motion to dismiss a securities class action arising, in part, from the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy filing.

On August 11, the Honorable Allan L. Gropper issued an opinion of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York denying five motions to dismiss certain Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases of several property-specific special purpose subsidiaries (SPE Debtors), including a number of issuers of commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS), that are owned by mall operator General Growth Properties, Inc.