Fifth Circuit’s Ultra Petroleum Decision Suggests Make-Wholes are Unenforceable in Bankruptcy, Questions Collectability of Contract Rate Postpetition Interest
by | posted in: Priority | 0

By Donald S. Bernstein, Timothy Graulich, Marshall S. Huebner, Darren S. Klein, Brian M. Resnick, Christopher Robertson, Damian S. Schaible, Eli J. Vonnegut and Jacob Weiner (Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP).

In In re Ultra Petroleum Corp., No. 17-20793, 2019 WL 237365 (5th Cir. Jan. 17, 2019), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued a decision strongly suggesting that (i) make-whole premiums are not payable in bankruptcy to unsecured and undersecured creditors and (ii) unsecured creditors in solvent-debtor Chapter 11 cases are entitled to postpetition interest only at the federal judgment rate—not the higher full contract rate.  The Fifth Circuit found “compelling” the debtors’ argument that a make-whole premium owed to certain unsecured noteholders under the prepetition notes purchase agreement should be disallowed as a claim for unmatured interest pursuant to section 502(b)(2) of the Bankruptcy Code, departing from the majority view.  While distressed companies may rejoice in this decision, creditors—particularly unsecured and undersecured creditors—will need to reconsider the likelihood of collection of make-whole premiums for distressed companies that are able to file for bankruptcy protection in Texas, Louisiana, or Mississippi, and to evaluate the risk that courts in other circuits follow the Fifth Circuit’s reasoning.  Importantly, the UltraPetroleum decision will likely create additional incentives for distressed companies to file for bankruptcy in the Fifth Circuit if potentially large make-whole premiums are payable to unsecured or undersecured creditors.

In addition, the Fifth Circuit’s guidance on rates of postpetition interest owed to unsecured creditors in solvent-debtor Chapter 11 cases may influence courts in other jurisdictions in solvent-debtor Chapter 11 cases.

The full article, which describes the make-whole analysis in the context of the recent Momentive and Energy Future Holdings decisions and the postpetition interest rate dispute, is available here.

Mandatory Contractual Stay Requirements for Qualified Financial Contracts
by | posted in: Derivatives, Financial Firms and Safe Harbors | 0

By Erika D. White and Donald S. Bernstein of Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP.

The U.S. banking agencies have issued rules that require U.S. G-SIBs and the U.S. operations of foreign G-SIBs to amend their swaps, repurchase agreements and other qualified financial contracts (QFCs) to include certain provisions designed to mitigate the risk of destabilizing close-outs of QFCs in the event the G-SIB enters resolution. The rules are part of a package of reforms implemented by the industry, Congress and the U.S. banking agencies since the financial crisis in an attempt to ensure that the largest financial institutions can be resolved in an orderly manner. Specifically, the rules seek to (1) mitigate the risk that the FDIC’s stay-and-transfer powers with respect to QFCs under Title II of the Dodd-Frank Act and the Federal Deposit Insurance Act may not be recognized and given effect outside of the United States and (2) improve the likelihood of success of a single-point-of entry resolution strategy under the Bankruptcy Code by limiting the ability of counterparties to terminate their QFCs with a solvent and performing operating entity based on cross-defaults triggered by the bankruptcy of the operating entity’s parent or other affiliate. The QFC Stay Rules do not, however, affect the rights of counterparties to terminate QFCs under the safe harbor provisions of the Bankruptcy Code in the event the operating subsidiary itself were to enter bankruptcy proceedings.

 

The full visual memo is available here.

Second Circuit Says Section 546 of Bankruptcy Code Preempts State Law Constructive Fraud Claims
by | posted in: Avoidance | 0

By Donald Bernstein, Elliot Moskowitz, Damian Schaible, Eli Vonnegut, Alicia Llosa Chang, and Tina Hwa Joe of Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP

On March 29, 2016, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued an important opinion that limits the ability of creditors to assert constructive fraudulent transfer claims in major bankruptcy cases.  In a unanimous opinion, the Circuit held that in circumstances where Section 546 of the Bankruptcy Code bars estate representatives from asserting constructive fraudulent conveyance claims under state law, the statute likewise prevents individual creditors from bringing those claims after the estate’s time to do so expires.  In several recent Chapter 11 cases, individual creditors argued that the statute should only preclude a “trustee” – the term used in the statutory text – from bringing such claims, not individual creditors.  The Circuit’s ruling in In re: Tribune Company Fraudulent Conveyance Litigation, No. 13-3992, and summary order in related case Whyte v. Barclays Bank, 13-2653, were the first decisions from a circuit court on the issue and settled a conflict among its lower courts.  In a 53-page decision, the Circuit rejected the argument that the text of the statute only bars constructive fraud claims brought by a trustee or other estate representative, instead holding that the doctrine of implied preemption protects settlement payments and swap transactions from constructive fraud claims brought by any party.  The decision may put an end to recent attempts by creditors to circumvent Section 546(e) and related provisions in bringing such claims.

The full memo is available here.

SDNY Issues Novel Opinion Holding that Out-of-Court Restructurings May Violate Noteholder Rights Under the Trust Indenture Act
by | posted in: Workouts and Pre-Packs | 0

By Alan F. Denenberg, Joseph A. Hall, Michael Kaplan, Jeffrey M. Oakes, Richard D. Truesdell, Jr., and Sarah Ashfaq of Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP

Companies have long relied upon out-of-court restructurings to keep them afloat during times of financial distress. In Marblegate Asset Management v. Education Management Corp. (S.D.N.Y. 2014), the Southern District of New York found that a proposed out-of-court restructuring, objected to byminority creditors, likely violated provisions of the Trust Indenture Act of 1939 (TIA), a Depression-era federal statute intended to protect rights to payment under a TIA-qualified indenture, which governs debt securities offered in any U.S. public offering. Unlike earlier TIA cases, a critical element of the proposed restructuring in Marblegate was explicitly permitted by the governing indenture, and no consent of the objecting creditors was required by the indenture. Nonetheless, the Court read the TIA to give creditors a substantive right to protection against out-of-court restructurings that they did not consent to on an individual basis, although it ultimately did not grant the plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction. But the potential for a minority creditor to obstruct a company’s ability to restructure, especially in light of indenture provisions the creditor knowingly accepted at the time it purchased its securities, could have serious consequences. While the debtor company’s actions in Marblegate were certainly aggressive, the Court’s view, if adopted by other courts, could have the potential to create an overriding ability for any creditor to block a restructuring — even when permitted by the indenture — directly leading to more court-administered bankruptcies. If followed to that conclusion, the opinion would be a potentially material and unwelcome change to the legal landscape.

To read more, click here.

Momentive Ruling May Pave the Road for Below-Market “Takeback Paper” Cramdowns of Secured Creditors
by | posted in: Cramdown and Priority | 0

By Donald S. Bernstein, Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP

bernstein In a lengthy and widely discussed bench ruling delivered on August 26, 2014, Judge Robert D. Drain of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York held that Momentive Performance Materials could satisfy the cramdown standard of Section 1129(b) of the Bankruptcy Code as to its oversecured creditors by distributing to them replacement notes paying a below-market interest rate, under the reasoning of the Supreme Court’s Till opinion. Rejecting arguments made by the objecting creditors that a market rate of interest was required, Judge Drain approved the use of a rate computed by reference to the prime rate, with an additional margin to compensate the creditors for the risk of non-payment, reasoning that the Bankruptcy Code does not require an interest rate that covers creditors’ costs or provides them with a profit. We note that, if followed, Judge Drain’s ruling may shift the leverage in future Chapter 11 cases in favor of debtors and unsecured creditors, potentially enabling them to satisfy secured creditors with long-term replacement notes at below-market rates, which could incentivize some debtors to avoid the use of market-rate takeout exit financing and potentially provide additional value for unsecured creditors at the expense of secured creditors.

For more analysis, navigate here for PDF download.

Capmark Decision Clarifies Insider Status for Market Participants
by | posted in: Bankruptcy Administration and Jurisdiction | 0

Authors: Marshall S. Huebner and Hilary A.E. Dengel, Davis Polk

Being deemed an “insider” has important ramifications for creditors in bankruptcy and can materially impact a creditor’s risk and recovery profile in any case.

In Capmark Financial Group Inc. v. Goldman Sachs Credit Partners L.P. (Capmark), the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York made several positive rulings on key insider status issues favorable to market participants who regularly find themselves, sometimes through affiliated entities, playing multiple roles with respect to a borrower counterparty.  Embracing the arguments advanced by the Goldman Sachs lending entities, the court rejected Capmark’s attempts to cast the lenders as “insiders” of Capmark based on an indirect equity interest in Capmark held by funds managed by certain of their affiliates – holding that Capmark failed to allege facts that would show the “extraordinary circumstances” required for veil piercing and stating that participation in an arm’s length transaction as an ordinary commercial lender will not give rise to non-statutory insider status.

The Capmark decision provides comfort and greater certainty to market participants that, absent falling into one of the expressly enumerated categories of insiders under the Bankruptcy Code, insider status should not attach to creditors who neither control a company nor deal with it at less than arm’s length.  The case is further discussed here in Capmark:  Clarifying Insider Status for Market Participants (ABI Journal, January 2014).