With the latest wave of bankruptcies sweeping the aviation and airline industries, you will find bankers and lawyers sweating over the priority and perfection of their aircraft liens. These bankruptcies seem to have a different character when contrasted with the bankruptcies of 2002 through 2004. Many of the 2008 bankruptcies are operational shut-downs and liquidations rather than restructurings. That means that the status of creditors (as secured or unsecured) is going to become acutely relevant and will determine how much the bankruptcy affects the creditor's financial outcome.

Recent news reports have focused on the problems of the financial markets on the one hand and consumer mortgage problems on the other. While Congress may yet grant authority to bankruptcy judges to modify home loans, modification of business loan facilities of all sizes remains available as a powerful and fundamental tool to be used in a business financial restructuring.

The Bankruptcy Code facilitates asset sales in chapter 11 by offering incentives to buyers and flexibility in structuring and timing the sale. A buyer can acquire assets free and clear of liens and is permitted to "cherry-pick" the debtor's contracts and leases to select only those it wants to keep. The assets and sale process can be structured in many ways, including auctions, private sales, lot or bulk sales, and going concern transactions.

The Key Parties

By nearly any measure, the Chapter 11 cases of Hawker Beechcraft and its affiliates (the “Debtors”) stand as a significant success. The cases began as a standalone reorganization predicated upon a restructuring support agreement (the “RSA”) among the Debtors’ senior lenders and noteholders, which soon thereafter gained the support of the

As discussed in previous posts on this site, back in December the Second Circuit Court of Appeals issued a summary order that reversed the bankruptcy court’s confirmation of the reorganization plan (the “Plan”) of DBSD North America, f/k/a ICO North America (“DBSD”).

COSTELLO v. GRUNDON (October 18, 2010)

The Boart Longyear decisions confirm that class constitution remains a critical issue for review when pursuing creditors' schemes of arrangement.

The New South Wales Court of Appeal has recently confirmed the circumstances in which companies seeking approval of schemes of arrangement will be required to convene separate meetings for different classes of creditors.

Class constitution: key principles

In the recent case of Dwyer & Ors and Davies & Ors v Chicago Boot Co Pty Ltd [2011] SASC 27, Chicago Boot claimed that certain payments made to it by two insolvent companies were not unfair preference payments, because of, amongst other defences, the purported application of a retention of title clause in relation to the supply of goods by Chicago Boot.

Your insurer goes bust – can you as an insured claim the reinsurance proceeds? An important decision in the NSW Supreme Court gives useful guidance on when a court will allow departures from the statutory scheme controlling the application of reinsurance proceeds (Amaca Pty Ltd v McGrath & Anor as liquidators of HIH Underwriting and Insurance (Australia) Pty Ltd [2011] NSWSC 90).

The insurer goes broke, and there are all these claimants at the door…

Relief for lenders and administrators as UK Supreme Court reverses “super-priority” status of pensions liabilities in insolvency ranking.