Summary

Retail tenants are experiencing unprecedented difficulties stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, including government shutdown orders for non-essential businesses and shelter-in-place rules that have virtually stopped all in-person shopping. Even as these restrictions are finally being relaxed to a limited degree, the dramatic effects of the pandemic will long be felt in the retail industry.

Elearning company Skillsoft provided two expedited alternatives to bankruptcy in its first-day filings in the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

Businesses that were already struggling before the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States are now facing the consequences of having to close their doors during the public health crisis.

On June 2, 2020, Judge Donald R. Cassling of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois held that a state executive order suspending dine-in services to address the COVID-19 pandemic (the “Executive Order”) constituted a force majeure event that partially excused performance under the applicable lease agreement. In re Hitz Restaurant Group, No. 20-B-05012, 2020 WL 2924523 (Bankr. N.D. Ill. June 2, 2020).

On June 22, 2020, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or “Commission”) issued an order concluding that the Commission and the United States Bankruptcy Courts have concurrent jurisdiction to review and address the disposition of natural gas transportation agreements (“FERC-jurisdictional agreement”) sought to be rejected through bankruptcy.

Both commercial landlords and tenants continue to struggle from governmental lockdowns and financial pressures. Recent bankruptcy decisions have added an additional layer of financial distress on commercial landlords by: (i) reducing commercial tenants' rent based on the subject lease's force majeure provision and governmental pandemic orders and (2) ignoring commercial tenants' requirement of timely payment of post-bankruptcy rent and allowing commercial tenants to "pause" payment of rent consistent with the governmental “stay” orders issued because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS BANKRUPTCY COURT HOLDS THAT EXECUTIVE ORDER BARRING RESTAURANT OPERATIONS ON-PREMISES IN LIGHT OF COVID-19 IS A FORCE MAJEURE EVENT THAT PARTIALLY EXCUSES DEBTOR RESTAURANT’S PAYMENT UNDER THE LEASE

Samantha Gilbert speaks to compliance leaders from the healthcare, financial services, insurance, IT and commercial sectors on what to expect from the new “business as usual” and enforcement. Conduct reviews, increased regulatory scrutiny and long-term digitisation are some key issues for compliance teams to prepare for.

One Court Reverses Itself and Others Expose Eligibility Loopholes

Several recent bankruptcy court decisions reveal that a temporary restraining order prohibiting the Small Business Administration (SBA) from enforcing its rule that a debtor in bankruptcy cannot qualify for a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan (the Bankruptcy Exclusion) is not necessarily a reliable predictor of ultimate success on the merits, and some courts have permitted end runs around the Bankruptcy Exclusion, empowering debtors to take advantage of those loopholes.