On January 22, 2024, the chief judge of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York entered General Order M-621 adopting amended procedural guidelines governing prepackaged Chapter 11 cases.

The guidelines provide a comprehensive framework for the administration of prepackaged Chapter 11 cases in the district. Among other things, they recognize and address “Rapid Prepackaged Chapter 11 Case[s],” defined as cases “where the Debtor seeks confirmation of the plan to be granted between one (1) and fourteen (14) days after the petition date.”

On December 12, 2023, in the case of In re Envision Healthcare Corp., Case No. 23-90342, Judge Christopher M. López of the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas determined that Section 541 of the Bankruptcy Code conflicts directly with, and therefore trumps, Section 18-304 of the Delaware LLC Act to prevent the termination of a member’s interests in a Delaware limited liability company arising from such member’s bankruptcy filing.

Summary of Section 18-304 of the Delaware Limited Liability Company Act (LLC Act)

A look back at bankruptcy trends and litigation in 2023 reveals a spike in bankruptcy filings driven by economic factors and fallout from the pandemic while in upper courts several interesting cases were decided involving proofs of claim, stay violations, and discharge issues.

Hamilton Reserve Bank Ltd. v. Sri Lanka, No. 22-cv-5199 (S.D.N.Y. Nov. 1, 2023) [click for opinion]

Celsius creditors feeling the heat over preference claims

2023 is the year that the need for a uniform state law on assignments for benefit of creditors became obvious.

And a Drafting Committee at the Uniform Law Commission began working in 2023 to create such a law.

Here are some of the reasons why the need became obvious.

Background and Purpose

Many jurisdictions offer a process for distressed companies to seek the protection of the Courts from enforcement action while they try to put a restructuring plan in place.  England and Wales has the administration regime, and the USA has Chapter 11. Historically, the Cayman Islands has addressed this issue by means of the ‘light touch’ provisional liquidation, by which an insolvency practitioner could be appointed to supervise the company while a restructuring plan was formulated and considered, with a breathing space from creditor actions by way of a court-imposed moratorium.

2023 has been a good year for developing the law of Subchapter V through court rulings and opinions. Here are some of the highs and lows of that development.

Working as Intended

If 2023 shows us anything, it’s this: Subchapter V is working as intended.

Subchapter V has developed into the efficient and effective tool for business reorganization it was intended to be. That’s true, whether the reorganization is in the form of continued operations or liquidation. Such a tool did not exist before Subchapter V.

In 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court issues its unanimous Siegel v. Fitzgerald opinion. The question in that opinion is:

Executive Summary Executive Summry ○ 4월 총선에서 여당이 승리할 경우 상속/승계 세 부담 완화와 기업활동 지원을 위한 규제 완화에 속도가 붙을 것으로 전망됩니다. 반면 야당이 승리할 경우, 노동, 환경, 조세 분야 규제 강화를 위한 입법이 예상됩니다. 금융사고, 불완전 판매, 초과이익 등 금융회사 규제 강화는 여야 공통기조인 만큼 총선 이후에도 지속 추진될 전망입니다. ○ 11월 미국 대선에서 바이든-트럼프 간 재대결이 유력한 가운데 트럼프 당선 시 ▲대중 강 경노선 및 보호무역주의 회귀 ▲화석연료 중심의 에너지 정책 전환 ▲反이민정책 기조 등 미국의 통상·외교정책에 대대적인 변화가 예상됩니다. ○ 국내 전기차·배터리·반도체·신재생에너지 기업들의 대미(對美)·대중(對中)투자, 합작법인 설 립, 외국정부·기업과의 통상분쟁 이슈가 증가할 가능성이 있습니다. ○ 금융부문의 사회적 책임 이행에 대해 국회와 정부도 공감대를 가지고 있어, 은행 수익의 사회 환원을 위해 횡재세뿐만 아니라 상생금융 조성, 취약층 이자감면 등 다양한 방안이 마련될 것으로 예상됩니다.