CASE SNAPSHOT
In Michigan State Housing Development Authority v. Lehman Brothers Derivatives Products, Inc., et al. (In re Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., et al.) (Michigan State Housing), 1 the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York (the Bankruptcy Court) recently held that a provision in a swap agreement that shifted the methodology for calculating termination amounts upon the debtor counterparty’s bankruptcy was enforceable under the Bankruptcy Code’s safe harbor for liquidating, terminating and accelerating swap agreements.
In a recent decision, the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit shocked observers by holding that bankruptcy courts have the power to recharacterize claims on account of unpaid debts as equity infusions that cannot be repaid until all creditor claims have been satisfied. In In re Fitness Holdings Int’l, Inc., 714 F.3d 1141 (9th Cir.
In In re Nilsson, 129 Nev. Adv. 101 (December 26, 2013), the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Nevada certified the following question to the Nevada Supreme Court:
Nearly 30 years after enactment of the Bankruptcy Amendments and Federal Judgeship Act of 1984 and establishment of the current bankruptcy court structure, courts are still struggling to understand the bounds of a bankruptcy court’s jurisdiction and power. Unfortunately for one recent appellant, a bankruptcy court’s power to enter punitive damages is not as great as it had hoped.
A June 2013 decision from the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina Greenville Division, In re L.L. Murphrey Company, 2013 WL 2451368 (Bankr. E.D.N.C. June 6, 2013), highlights the importance of due diligence in connection with assignments of security interests.
Probably the most significant bankruptcy law development in the past several years has been the narrowing of bankruptcy courts’ constitutional authority to enter final judgments. See Stern v. Marshall, 131 S. Ct.
In recent years, bankruptcy courts have come closer to reaching a consensus regarding their ability to recharacterize debt into equity. Yet, beneath this consensus lies a deepening divide that lenders should be aware of. Recharacterization challenges “the assertion of a debt against the bankruptcy estate on the ground that the ‘loaned’ capital was actually an equity investment.” In re Insilco Techs., Inc., 480 F.3d 212, 217 (3d Cir. 2007) (internal citations omitted).
The Tenth Circuit recently analyzed the interplay between sections 523(a)(5) and 523(a)(15) of the Bankruptcy Code in connection with a judgment obtained by a former husband for overpayment of his spousal support obligations. Eloisa Taylor, the debtor in In re Taylor, 2013 WL 6404952 (10th Cir.