The financing of commercial litigation has grown enormously since it first appeared on the scene in the US, about 15 years ago. While still small relative to the overall US financial market, it is estimated that more than $11 billion has been invested in litigation finance in the US last year alone. In essence, lenders
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Backstops Survive Another Challenge
Backstop commitments have become commonplace in large corporate bankruptcy cases – they provide certainty to the debtor that it will have the funds needed to satisfy its obligations to creditors under its plan of reorganization and that it will have liquidity to operate post-bankruptcy as the reorganized entity. Backstop commitments are also a way for…
Trends in ESG for Members of the Restructuring Community
Considerations of “environmental, social and governance” (or ESG) criteria with respect to a company’s management and operations continue to take on greater importance in lenders’ and investors’ credit and investment decisions. How a borrower or a target company measures up to these ever-developing ESG standards will impact its cost of capital and value to potential…
Foreign Debtors and Chapter 11 – Seeking Relief from Turbulent Skies
Foreign companies seeking to protect their overseas assets from their creditors have often turned to the United States for immediate relief under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code. Establishing jurisdiction in the US for purposes of a bankruptcy filing has proved easy – the establishment of a nominal professional fees retainer with a local law…
Receivables Transactions Revisited: Recent Decisions Split on Sale vs. Loan Characterization
The merchant cash advance (“MCA”) industry recently provided two different bankruptcy courts with an opportunity to consider the characterization of MCA funding transactions as either “true sales” of receivables or “disguised loans”. [1] MCA funders typically provide cash to a financially distressed company in exchange for a percentage of that company’s future receivables collection. Companies…
Plan Support Covenants Survive Attack in Aeromexico’s Bankruptcy Proceeding
Earlier this year, Mexican airline, Grupo Aeromexico, S.A.B. de C.V. (together with its affiliates, the “Debtors”) announced that their creditor body had overwhelmingly voted to approve their proposed Chapter 11 restructuring plan (the “Plan”) save for one class of unsecured creditor claims that voted to reject the Plan. Those claims were held by Invictus Global…
Another Blow: Third Party Releases Under Attack
The practice of granting third party releases in bankruptcy was recently dealt another blow by the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. In Patterson et. al. v. Mahwah Bergen Retail Group, Inc., Civil No. 3:21cv167 (DJN), the District Court found that the lower bankruptcy court lacked the constitutional authority to both rule on…
Lenders Beware: The Supreme Court’s Ruling in Fulton May Not Be the Final Word on Violations of the Automatic Stay
In its much-discussed decision, City of Chicago v. Fulton, 141 S. Ct. 585 (2020), the Supreme Court ruled that the City of Chicago (“City”) was not in violation of Section 362(a)(3) of the Bankruptcy Code for failing to release an impounded car to a debtor in bankruptcy. Section 362(a)(3) imposes an automatic stay over “any…
District Court Considers “Overarching Transfer” When Applying Bankruptcy Safe Harbor
The District Court for the Southern District of New York recently issued an important decision that provides further support for a holistic analysis when applying the Bankruptcy Code’s “safe harbors.” In Mark Holliday, the Liquidating Trustee of the BosGen Liquidating Trust v. Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, et al., 20 Civ. 5404 (Sept. 13, 2021),…
Fifth Circuit Refuses to Invalidate Personal Guarantee for Undue Duress
Does a lender’s demand for the appointment of a Chief Restructuring Officer (or CRO) by its borrower constitute “undue duress” for purposes of invalidating a personal guarantee? That question was before the Fifth Circuit in Lockwood International, Inc. v. Wells Fargo, National Association et al. v. Michael F. Lockwood, Case 20-40324 (5th Cir. 2021). The…