Market Test Required for Plans Giving Equity to Insiders

In In the Matter of Castleton Plaza, LP,1 the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held that a new value plan that leaves creditor claims unpaid must be subjected to a market test if the new value is contributed by an insider. The decision by the Seventh Circuit expanded the competition requirement to insiders whether or not the insider is a holder of a claim or interest against the debtor. The Castleton decision could be read to be a substantial expansion of both the requirements of 1129(b)(2)(B) and the Supreme Court decision in Bank of America National Trust & Savings Ass’n v. 203 North LaSalle Partnership, 526 U.S. 434 (1999).