Deposit Ins. Agency v. Leontiev, No. 17-MC-00414 (S.D.N.Y. July 23, 2018) [click for opinion]
Nothing lasts forever – a legal entity may close by choice or circumstance. It is often the case that during liquidation procedures and following settlements with creditors, rights holders are no longer able to manage their trademarks. This article addresses the fate of those trademarks. The liquidation of a legal entity does not automatically result in a transfer of rights and obligations. However, after settlements are made, it is common for the legal entity’s property to be transferred to the founder of that entity that has proprietary or corporate rights.
Russia's Supreme Court guidelines reduce high net worth individuals' ("HNWIs") asset protection opportunities and potentially create risks of additional creditor claims against HNWIs after divorce and asset division between the HNWI and his/her spouse.1
In addition, these guidelines enable third parties, notably creditors of the ex-spouse, to get access to information regarding the HNWI's disputed assets. We summarize the most important points of these guidelines below.
Key developments
The Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation has obliged a tax authority to check the relevancy of the claim to recognize a debtor as a bankrupt in terms of prospects and economic feasibility of initiating such dispute.
Russia's bankruptcy law (the Law) has been amended to expand the list of persons who may be held vicariously liable for a bankrupt's debts and clarify the grounds for such liability.1
Definition of controlling person clarified
New Federal Law No. 266-FZ dated 29 July 2017 (the Amendment Law) introduces notable changes to Russia’s insolvency rules. Importantly, the law does away with the original provisions on vicarious liability of controlling persons in RF Law No. 127-FZ on Insolvency of 26 October 2002 (the Insolvency Law). The Amendment Law expands this concept in a series of new clauses. The rules came into force 30 July 2017.
Bankruptcy cases can involve not only the debtor’s pledge creditors (creditors whose claims are secured by means of a pledge), but also creditors whose claims are secured by other means of securing the performance of obligations. Said means may include both those means that are explicitly defined in the Russian Civil Code and those that are not. Among the means of proprietary nature (as opposed to means of personal nature, such as suretyship), special mention goes to security deposit, retention money, security transfer of title and finance lease.
Among other things, new Federal Law No. 266-FZ (July 29, 2017) (the "Amendment") supersedes provisions concerning the vicarious liability of "controlling persons" for a bankrupt corporate debtor’s obligations set forth in RF Law No. 127-FZ on Insolvency (October 26, 2002) (the "Insolvency Law").
The Amendment defines a "controlling person" as any individual or entity who, during the three-year period preceding the existence of "signs of insolvency" or court approval of a bankruptcy petition, had the power to direct the debtor’s affairs, including the execution of contracts.
The 2015 reform of the Russian law of obligations (changes to the relevant section of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation (hereinafter – the Civil Code) came into force on June 1, 2015) may have a major impact on bankruptcy proceedings. The implementation of the new legal doctrines has only just begun, yet the first cases to reach the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation have already revealed major issues.
In a previous article, The Eagle and the Bear: Russian Proceedings Recognized Under Chapter 15, we discussed In re Poymanov, in which the Bankruptcy Court (SDNY) recognized a Russian foreign proceeding under chapter 15 of the Bankruptcy Code even though the debtor had only nominal assets in the United States (the “Recognition Order”). The Bankruptcy Court had declined to rule upon recognition whether the automatic stay under 11 U.S.C.