One exception to the otherwise far-reaching scope of the automatic stay is the “police power” exception, which permits a governmental unit to commence or continue an action or proceeding that is in furtherance of its police and regulatory powers (section 362(b)(4) of the Bankruptcy Code). In the past, bankruptcy courts have held that the “police power” exception extends to actions taken by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, the agency charged with protecting pension benefits in private-sector defined pension plans.
We are starting to see signs of movement from the special administrators in relation to clients and creditors who have exposure to MF Global UK Limited ("MF Global UK").
If a tenant company fails to pay its rent when due (subject to any grace periods in the lease) the landlord ordinarily has the right to forfeit the lease either by peaceable re-entry of the property or by legal proceedings. However, if the tenant is insolvent (or soon to become insolvent) then this right may be stayed by the moratorium under the Insolvency Act 1986.
When is a company in insolvent? When is a company's assets less than its liabilities (taking account of contingent and prospective liabilities)?
Under English law this is a commercial test and requires that a company has reached a "point of no return" and is not based solely on a review of the company's balance sheet:
As you may recall, the High Court ruled in December 2010, in a case brought by the administrators of 20 insolvent companies in the Lehman and Nortel groups, that the cost of complying with a financial support direction ("FSD"), issued by the Pensions Regulator after the date of the commencement of a company's administration or liquidation, would rank as an expense of the administration or liquidation.
MF Global, one of the world's leading broker/dealer firms entered into insolvency proceedings in both the US and the UK on 31 October 2011. US entities MF Global Holdings Ltd. and MF Global Finance USA Inc. filed voluntary petitions for relief under Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code in the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. Also on 31 October, the US Securities Investor Protection Corporation ("SIPC") initiated the liquidation of MF Global, Inc. a jointly registered futures commission merchant and broker-dealer, under the Securities Investor Protection Act ("SIPA").
Thor Maalouf, an Associate in the London Shipping Group, considers some of the issues which may arise where a party to a charterparty becomes insolvent.
INSOLVENCY ALONE IS NOT ENOUGH TO JUSTIFY TERMINATION
Introduction
For all of the legal difficulties which market participants are facing in light of the insolvency of Lehman Brothers, the insolvency is providing the Courts with the opportunity to pass judgment on many of the tricky provisions of the 1992 and 2002 versions of the ISDA Master Agreement (together the "Agreements").
In a recent high profile case brought by the administrators of 20 insolvent companies in the Lehman and Nortel groups, the High Court ruled that the cost of complying with a financial support direction (“FSD”) issued after the date of the commencement of a company’s administration or liquidation by the Pensions Regulator would rank as an expense of the administration or liquidation.
In Gulf International Bank v Al Ittefaq Steel Products Co and others [2010] EWHC 2601 (QB), the High Court set out the factors that must be taken into account by the court when exercising its discretion to extend time for payment of sums due following an admission.