The recent case of In re Tousa, Inc. (Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Tousa, Inc., v. Citicorp North America, Inc., Adv. Pro. No. 08-1435-JKO (Bankr. S.D. Fla., October 13, 2009)) has attracted considerable attention – and dread – in the banking and legal communities.

On Friday, the OCC closed Unity National Bank, headquartered in Cartersville, Georgia, and the FDIC was named receiver.

On Friday, the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance closed McIntosh Commercial Bank, headquartered in Carrollton, Georgia, and the FDIC was named receiver.

On March 22, 2010, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit affirmed a lower court decision which held that secured creditors do not have an absolute right to credit bid at an auction of assets conducted in connection with a bankruptcy reorganization plan. The court ruled that secured creditors are only entitled to the "indubitable equivalent" of their claims under a specific subsection of the Bankruptcy Code. The "indubitable equivalent" could be the cash value of the assets upon which the creditor holds liens as determined through an auction process.

On Friday, OTS closed Key West Bank, headquartered in Key West, Florida, and the FDIC was named receiver.

On Friday, the Arizona Department of Financial Institutions closed Desert Hills Bank, headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, and the FDIC was named receiver. As receiver, the FDIC entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with New York Community Bancorp, headquartered in Westbury, NY to assume all of the deposits of Desert Hills Bank.

Introduction

What you need to know:

The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has ruled that secured lenders do not have a statutory right to credit bid their claims in connection with a sale of the debtor’s assets effectuated through a chapter 11 plan of reorganization.

What you need to do:

It is a harrowing scenario for any seller of goods: a trading-partner files for bankruptcy and leaves the seller with thousands, even millions of dollars in unpaid invoices. In many instances, some of these goods were delivered only days before the bankruptcy filing. While a creditor may be able to assert reclamation rights, those rights are often difficult to enforce in bankruptcy and may be subordinate to the interests of an all assets lender.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, in In re Philadelphia Newspapers LLC,1 has ruled that secured creditors do not have a right, as a matter of law, to credit bid their claims when their collateral is sold under a plan of reorganization. The Third Circuit held that secured creditors may be barred from credit bidding where a debtor's reorganization plan provides secured creditors with the "indubitable equivalent" of their secured interest in the assets. The court's ruling follows a similar ruling last year by the U.S.