The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), signed into law March 27, 2020, and the Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019 (SBRA), which went into effect Feb. 19, 2020, provide options for small business debtors considering chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Designed to alleviate costs and create greater efficiencies in the chapter 11 process, the SBRA was modified by the CARES Act to raise the maximum qualifying debt level from approximately $2.7 million to $7.5 million, through March 27, 2021.
The Situation: In the past few weeks, due to the severe impact of the COVID-19 crisis on non-essential businesses forced to close and terminate employees after filing for chapter 11 protection, bankruptcy courts have been confronted with requests by debtors to temporarily suspend their bankruptcy cases using the courts' equitable powers and a seldom-used provision of the Bankruptcy Code: 11 U.S.C. § 305(a).
The oil and gas industry in Texas is currently facing a double whammy from the recent oil price shock and COVID-19 related demand reductions. While exploration and production operators in Texas are proactively taking self-help measures to reinforce their financial frameworks — reducing capital spending, operating expenses, overhead and dividends — the outlook remains highly uncertain.
“You cannot properly appraise the real seriousness of that situation unless you are right there in the city. Everything that frugal men and women put aside for years to save for old age, to get security for themselves – everything that they put aside to make the lot of their children a better one than their own, is now likely to be swept away. There is only one way that you can lighten the load of the municipality and that is to take its debt service off for the time being. Specifically, so that you will understand it, what is it in the city of Detroit?
Changes to Singapore's statutory regime for schemes of arrangement, which came into effect in May 2017, are aimed at placing Singapore on the map as an international debt restructuring hub.
With many bankruptcy cases looming on the horizon as a result of the pandemic and the measures taken to contain it, prudent creditors are reacquainting themselves with their rights, including the right of reclamation. Reclamation is codified in section 2-702(2) of the Uniform Commercial Code, and allows a seller who discovers that the buyer is insolvent to reclaim the goods upon demand within 10 days after delivery. However, this right is junior to the rights of good faith purchasers and lien creditors.
In this series, we look at how various payment rights are treated in bankruptcy. A summary like this could not possibly address every right that might arise in any given bankruptcy case. We have omitted several of the Bankruptcy Code’s more esoteric legal protections and exceptions that arise in specific kinds of bankruptcy cases. When bankruptcy strikes, creditors should always consult a bankruptcy lawyer to understand what actions they need to take to preserve their rights and maximize their recovery.
The Basic Concept of a “Claim”
Earlier this year, Chapter 11’s new Subchapter V became a part of the Bankruptcy Code when the Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019 (SBRA) became effective.
On August 11, 2020, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued an Opinion in Lehman Brothers Special Financing Inc. (“LBSF”) v. Bank of America, N.A., et. al, No. 18-1079,[1] an adversary proceeding brought in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding of Lehman Brothers Holdings, Inc.
In August 2019, President Donald Trump signed the Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019 (SBRA or “the Act”) into law in an effort to address the fact that small businesses have struggled to reorganize under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code. 11 U.S.C. §§ 1181-1195 (Subchapter V). The goal of the Act was to make these bankruptcies faster and cheaper for all the parties involved.