[2007] NZCA 122
Decision of The Court Of Appeal of New Zealand on Sham and Alter Ego Trusts
Facts and Decision
The Romanian legal framework on insolvency procedure has been consistently improved following the enactment of Insolvency Law no. 85 (Law 85), which entered into force on 21 July 2006.
Background
The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) in Swart v Starbuck & Others 2016 ZASCA 83, reaffirmed the necessary authorisation for a trustee of an insolvent estate to sell an insolvent estate’s immovable property.
Mr Swart’s estate was finally sequestrated on 1 November 2005. On 24 January 2006, three provisional trustees were appointed by the Master of the High Court. At the time of Mr Swart’s provisional sequestration, he owned certain immovable properties (Properties).
A common misconception surrounding an ante nuptial contract is that it provides married parties some protection when insolvency ensues. However, this is not necessarily the case. As many a solvent spouse discovers upon insolvency of their partner, the policy of the collection of maximum assets for the advantage of creditors actually overwhelms all other policies in South African insolvency law.
In the recent decision of the Alberta Court of Appeal in Orion Industries Ltd. (Trustee of) v Neil's General Contracting Ltd.1("Orion Industries") the Court interpreted and applied the rule added as part of the 2009 amendments to section 95(2) of theBankruptcy and Insolvency Act ("BIA") which deals with preferential payments. That amendment provides that evidence of pressure by a creditor is inadmissible to support a preferential payment.
In 2008, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in Saulnier5 that a commercial fishing licence constitutes ‘property’ within the context of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (“BIA”) and the Nova Scotia PPSA6, thereby allowing the trustee in bankruptcy to seize the licence from the bankrupt.
A recent decision by the Third Circuit in the Nortel Group bankruptcy reinforces the worldwide reach of the automatic stay and the narrow scope of the police power exception under section 362(b)(4) of the Bankruptcy Code. In Nortel Networks, Inc. v. Trustee of Nortel Networks U.K. Pension Plan, No. 11-1895 (3d Cir. Dec. 29, 2011), the Third Circuit held that the automatic stay barred U.K. pension claimants from participating in U.K. proceedings meant to determine the debtors’ liability for their affiliate’s pension funding shortfalls.
Summary
Introduction
Saul Katz and Fred Wilpon, owners of the New York Mets baseball team, invested in Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme. Irving Picard, the trustee appointed under the Securities Investor Protection Act to liquidate the business of Madoff and Madoff Securities, sought to recover over $1 billion from Katz and Wilpon on the grounds that they had made money from Madoff through fraud, constructive fraud and preferential transfers in violation of federal bankruptcy law and New York debtor-creditor law.