A “bank [making a secured rescue loan] had information that should have created the requisite suspicion … to conduct a diligent search for possible dirt” — i.e., whether the debtor had the right to pledge $312 million of customer securities, held the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit on Jan. 8, 2016.In re Sentinel Management Group, Inc., 2016 WL 98601, at *2 (7th Cir. Jan. 8, 2016) [“Sentinel V”]. The Seventh Circuit reversed the district court, voided the defendant bank’s lien as a fraudulent transfer, and rejected the bank’s good faith defense.
In Venture Bank v. Lapides, 800 F.3d 442 (8th Cir. 2015), the Eighth Circuit found that a bank could not recover from its borrower and, in fact, had violated the post-discharge injunction by relying on change in terms agreements which were ineffective to reaffirm a debt discharged in the borrower’s Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
A foreign company makes a foreign distribution to foreign shareholders shortly before merging with a U.S. company in a highly-leveraged LBO. The resulting company files a chapter 11 petition in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York 13 months later. Can the foreign transfer be avoided as a fraudulent conveyance under section 548 of the Bankruptcy Code? Previously, the answer was almost certainly not (at least in the Southern District of New York).
Immediately upon the commencement of a bankruptcy case an automatic stay prohibits actions against the debtor to, among other things, collect pre-petition obligations and to obtain control over property of the bankruptcy estate. The automatic stay furthers fundamental policy goals of providing a debtor with the “breathing space” to reorganize or otherwise address its problems, and providing an orderly process for dealing with creditor claims. A violation of the stay can be costly, resulting in an award of actual and possibly punitive damages. Two recent rulings of th
Baker Botts L.L.P. has filed its application for retention as debtors’ counsel in In re New Gulf Resources, LLC, et al. (Case No. 15-12556, Bankr. D. Del.), and the application incudes a novel “Fee Premium.” Essentially, Baker Botts’ aggregate fees incurred in the case will be increased by 10% (subject to court approval) but … Baker Botts will waive the entire Fee Premium “if, and only if, Baker Botts does not incur material fees and expenses defending against any objection with respect to an interim or final fee application.”
Precipitous commodity price declines that began in mid-2014 continued to disrupt the oil and gas industry in 2015, outlasting the expectations of many analysts. By the end of 2015, prices for both Brent and WTI crude were fluctuating in the mid to upper $30s per barrel, down from highs of over $100 a barrel in mid-2014.
2015 was a rough year for the oil and gas industry. The primary source of the trouble was (and continues to be) the dramatic fall in crude oil prices. In 2014, the price of U.S. crude oil averaged approximately $91 per barrel. In 2015, the price dropped to an average of approximately $49 per barrel. As of this writing, the price was approximately $36 per barrel.
Court of Appeals Rejects Literal Construction of Bankruptcy Code section 523(a)(1), Ruling Court Must Determine Whether Debtors Subjectively Made an Honest and Reasonable Attempt to Satisfy the Tax Law
In a December 17, 2015 decision in United States v. Martin (In re Martin), 2015 WL 9252590 (9th Cir. BAP 2015) the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (the “Panel”), defined what qualifies as a tax return for dischargeability purposes, specifically disagreeing with three other Courts of Appeals.
Case #1. An equipment lease or a disguised financing?
Lyon Fin. Servs., Inc. v. Illinois Paper and Copier Co.
US District Court, Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division
2015 U.S. Dist. Lexis 169946 (December 21, 2015)
Background