An “Order Staying the Later-Filed Bankruptcy Cases” is from In re The Aliera Companies Inc., Case No. 21-11548, Delaware Bankruptcy Court (issued January 18, 2022, Doc. 56), followed by an “Order Transferring Venue of the Later-Filed Voluntary Bankruptcy Cases” (issued January 25, 2022, Doc. 67) in the same case.
The Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019 (SBRA) added subchapter V to chapter 11. In defining the eligibility for subchapter V, Congress amended the Bankruptcy Code’s definition of a “small business debtor” to exclude specifically corporations that are subject to the reporting requirements under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, essentially making publicly traded companies ineligible for subchapter V.
The Bankruptcy Protector
Procedure
The merchant cash advance (“MCA”) industry recently provided two different bankruptcy courts with an opportunity to consider the characterization of MCA funding transactions as either “true sales” of receivables or “disguised loans”.
There is a common misconception that lender liability is a thing of the past. However, a recent decision provides a warning to lenders that they can be held liable and face substantial damages if they exercise excessive control over a debtor’s business affairs.
There is a common misconception that lender liability is a thing of the past. However, a recent decision provides a warning to lenders that they can be held liable and face substantial damages if they exercise excessive control over a debtor’s business affairs.
This past year was marked by extraordinary deal activity. Record breaking M&A activity drove record breaking private credit activity. Private equity M&A activity was at a substantial high, with over 8,500 deals worth $2.1 trillion, a 60% increase over 2020. Not surprisingly, in this environment, defaults were at all-time lows. The Proskauer Private Credit Default tracker showed an active default rate of approximately 1% at the end of 2021, compared to 3.6% in 2020.
A recent decision by Bankruptcy Judge Stacey Jurnigan in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas is being touted as the new Farah Manufacturing lender liability opinion for the 2020s.
Introduction
Can the foreclosure of a property tax lien on real estate be avoided as a fraudulent transfer under § 584 of the Bankruptcy Code?
That’s the issue before the District Court, on a bankruptcy appeal, in Duvall v. County of Ontario, New York, Case No. 21-cv-06236 in U.S. District Court, WDNY (issued 11/9/2021).
Courts have gone both ways on the issue.
The Difficulty