The main aim of the revision of the Hungarian Bankruptcy Law, effective September 2009, was to make the bankruptcy proceeding more attractive for creditors as well as debtors, to make clearing debt in the course of a bankrutpcy proceeding more effective and, with the increasing number of bankruptcy agreements, to decrease the number of liquidators.  

In a recent order entered in In re SemCrude, L.P., Case No. 08-11525, the Delaware bankruptcy court (1) clarified the application of Bankruptcy Code section 503(b)(9) to creditors’ priority claims arising from the delivery of goods in the 20 days before a bankruptcy filing and (2) amended a previously entered procedures order to allow for the resolution of disputed “Twenty Day Claims” on their merits.

One of the significant changes to distributions in insolvency made by the Enterprise Act 2002 was the abolition of the preferential status of debts owed to the Crown and the introduction of a provision for the creation of a ‘ring-fenced fund’ (also known as the “prescribed part”, an amount currently capped at £600,000) from the proceeds of floating charges created after 15 September 2003 to be applied in distribution to unsecured creditors.

It is relatively rare when a Circuit Court issues an opinion on the preference defenses under section 547(c) of the Bankruptcy Code. It is even more unusual when a decision examines the fact-focused “ordinary course” defense under section 547(c)(2). The ordinary course defense shields payments determined to have been made in the “ordinary course of business” of both the debtor and the creditor.

In bankruptcy cases, things often move more slowly than people would like or expect.  In addition to dealing with oversight by the bankruptcy court and the United States Trustee, a debtor typically spends significant time engaging with its lenders and secured creditors, committees of unsecured creditors, and any number of other key stakeholders.  Court approval is needed for most significant events in the case, for anything out of the ordinary course of business, and, at times, even for small matters.  Transparency, adequate notice and opportunity to object, and due process a

The French government has made the assessment that certain small commercial courts were regularly finding themselves confronted with cases of great complexity, only because the company in difficulty had its head office in the jurisdiction of these courts. It therefore announced the establishment of specialised commercial courts (TCS) which will process the most complex insolvency proceedings.

When can a bank be at risk of unknowingly receiving a fraudulent transfer? How much information does a bank need to have before it is on “inquiry notice”? A recent decision from the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals highlights the risks that a bank takes when it ignores red flags and fails to investigate. This decision should be required reading for all lenders since, in the matter before the Seventh Circuit, the banks’ failure to investigate their borrower’s questionable activity caused the banks to lose their security and have their secured loans reduced to unsecured claims.

The Macron law of 7 August 2015, named after the current Minister of the Economy, anticipated the establishment of specialised commercial courts which will process the most complex insolvency proceedings. Currently, any of the 134 French commercial courts can be applied to; the choice being mainly the location of the distressed company’s headquarters. This new arrangement aims to improve efficiency and to increase the number of specialised judges (because in France, commercial judges are lay judges). The aim of the reform is to save jobs.

Insiders who loot their corporate entities often dispose of the cash proceeds in transactions with third parties. A recent Seventh Circuit opinion, In re Equipment Acquisition Resources, Inc., 14-2174 (7th Cir. October 13, 2015) (the “EAR Opinion”)addresses a common risk faced by a third party who receives cash from the defrauding insider.

An important decision was issued last week by the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware in favor of Squire Patton Boggs’ client CCA Bahamas, Inc. (“CCA Bahamas”). The decision provides guidance on when U.S. bankruptcy courts should dismiss cases filed by foreign debtors. See In re Northshore Mainland Services, Inc., et al., Case No. 15-11402 (KJC).