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.

HFW DISPUTES DIGEST 2023

Welcome to the second annual Disputes Digest, in which we collate our 2023 global HFW LITIGATION and International Arbitration publications in one place.

This edition includes updates from across our Disputes arena, including England and Wales, BVI, AsiaPac, and the Middle East.

As we turn to a new year, my wife and I like to reminisce about our best days and milestones of the prior year (for 2023, it was a huge celebration with our best friends for my wife’s birthday, an epic bike ride with our kids on a beautiful day in Kiawah, and seeing “the Boss” in concert in Greensboro). Professionally, I find myself thinking about my friend and mentor, George Cauthen, who reached a milestone and retired from the active practice of law in 2023.

Here’s my biggest bankruptcy shocker from 2023:

• the Third Circuit’s rationale for dismissing Johnson & Johnson’s bankruptcy.

I’ll try to explain.

Appalled

I’m still appalled by the lack of concern, from the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in its dismissal opinion, over these disparities it describes in results for similarly situated claimants:

“Bankruptcy provides a valuable and desirable venue for the resolution of [mass tort] disputes” by:

Introduction

Bankruptcy Considerations for Unitranche Transactions with Super-Priority Revolvers without an AAL