The Cannabis Conundrum: Can Cannabis Companies File Chapter 15?
by | posted in: Bankruptcy, Bankruptcy Administration and Jurisdiction, Chapter 15, International and Comparative, Statutory Interpretation | 0

By Colin Davidson and Catherine Jun (Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP)

Colin Davidson
Catherine Jun

Cannabis is now legal in 19 states and Washington D.C., driving the growth of a legal cannabis industry estimated to be valued at $33 billion this year—up 32% from 2021—and expected to reach $52 billion by 2026. This growth in the cannabis industry, of course, also means that operators and their investment partners face increased commercial risk, including insolvency. Cannabis companies have thus far been precluded from accessing federal bankruptcy protection—i.e., chapter 7 or chapter 11—largely due to the status of cannabis as an illegal substance under federal law. The legal framework used in the United States, where cannabis is illegal federally but has been legalized by many states, differs greatly from the framework in Canada. In Canada the federal Cannabis Act 2018 legalized cannabis nationwide, while the provinces maintain certain regulatory powers related to the distribution, sale and use of cannabis. This suggests that for cross-border operators one potential route to U.S. bankruptcy relief is for the company to first commence an insolvency proceeding in Canada and then seek recognition of that foreign proceeding in a U.S. bankruptcy court under chapter 15 of the Bankruptcy Code. We examine the viability of chapter 15 as an alternative avenue to the U.S. bankruptcy courts and the challenges that a cannabis company may face in an article originally published by Cannabis Business Executive.

Click here to read the full article.

 

Chapter 15 and Bankruptcy Credit Events under Credit Default Swaps
by | posted in: Bankruptcy Administration and Jurisdiction, Bankruptcy Roundtable Updates, International and Comparative | 0

By Corinne Ball, George Cahill, Kay Morley, Jay Tambe, Bruce Bennett, & Heather Lennox (Jones Day)

Corinne Ball
George Cahill
Kay Morley
Jay Tambe
Bruce Bennett
Heather Lennox

A recent spate of decisions by the EMEA Determinations Committee (“DC”) has provided clarity on when a chapter 15 filing will trigger a “Bankruptcy” credit event under credit default swaps.  Each of the relevant chapter 15 petitions sought recognition of an English scheme of arrangement, which is not a product of insolvency law and does not necessarily constitute a Bankruptcy, and each underlying scheme was considered narrow enough in scope to not be “with or for the benefit of its creditors generally” (triggering limb (c) of Bankruptcy).  As such, the primary issue in each determination was whether the relief sought in the chapter 15 was similar to a “judgment of insolvency or bankruptcy” and independently triggered limb (d) of Bankruptcy.

The DC found that Thomas Cook’s 2019 petition for recognition of its scheme as a foreign nonmain proceeding, which expressly waived the benefit of the stay courts can impose in such cases, was not similar to an insolvency judgement and did not constitute a Bankruptcy.  On the contrary, it held that Matalan’s August petition seeking recognition of a foreign main proceeding (involving an automatic stay) was similar and triggered a Bankruptcy.  In its October determination regarding Selecta, the DC addressed the intermediate scenario, a petition seeking a stay in connection with a foreign main proceeding, finding that this also triggered a Bankruptcy.  While every situation must be considered on its own facts, these determinations should prove instructive on when a chapter 15 filing will trigger a Bankruptcy credit event.

Disclaimer Statement: “The views and opinions set forth herein are the personal views or opinions of the authors; they do not necessarily reflect views or opinions of the law firm with which they are associated.”

The full article is available here.

Why Chinese Companies File Chapter 15 Cases in US Bankruptcy Courts
by | posted in: Bankruptcy Administration and Jurisdiction, Bankruptcy Roundtable Updates, International and Comparative | 0

By Sara L. Chenetz and Tina N. Moss (Perkins Coie)

Sara L. Chenetz
Tina N. Moss

Reward Science and Technology Industry Group Co., Ltd. (“Reward”) joins a growing list of Chinese companies that have chosen to file a case in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in connection with their restructuring efforts under the People’s Republic of China’s Enterprise Bankruptcy Law (“EBL”). These U.S. cases are known as “Chapter 15” cases, in which the foreign representative of the debtor files a petition in a U.S. bankruptcy court seeking “recognition” of a foreign proceeding. Relief granted to Reward in its Chapter 15 proceedings included a stay of all efforts by Reward’s U.S. creditors to continue litigation and to commence any new lawsuits or other efforts to collect on claims in the United States. Additionally, the Reward foreign representative was granted the power to administer Reward’s U.S.-based assets for the benefit of its creditors and to gather evidence within the United States concerning Reward’s liabilities, assets, business affairs, and operations, including through examining witnesses under oath and issuing subpoenas to obtain documents.  Reward’s Chapter 15 case demonstrates that companies that are the subject of EBL cases or are considering whether they could benefit from filing an EBL case may also be able to obtain protections from creditor action in the United States by commencing a Chapter 15 case. As part of a Chapter 15 case, U.S. bankruptcy courts may halt litigation and other collection efforts against the Chinese business (temporarily or permanently), limit the enforceability of certain contract provisions, and simultaneously facilitate the Chinese’s business’ efforts to reorganize or liquidate.

The full article is available here.

 

Recent Developments in Cross-Border Insolvency and Recognition of Foreign Bankruptcy Proceedings in the US Bankruptcy Courts
by | posted in: Bankruptcy Administration and Jurisdiction, Bankruptcy Reform, Bankruptcy Roundtable Updates, International and Comparative, Statutory Interpretation | 0

By Mark G. Douglas and Dan T. Moss (Jones Day)

Mark G. Douglas
Dan T. Moss
Dan T. Moss

On July 25, 2019, the Judicial Insolvency Network announced its adoption of the Modalities of Court-to-Court Communication (the “Modalities”), which “apply to direct communications (written or oral) between courts in specific cases of cross-border proceedings relating to insolvency or adjustment of debt opened in more than one jurisdiction.” The Modalities are intended to facilitate implementation of the Guidelines for Communication and Cooperation Between Courts in Cross-Border Insolvency Matters, which since 2017 have been adopted by courts in several countries, including the Supreme Court of Singapore, the U.S. Bankruptcy Courts for the District of Delaware, the Southern District of New York and the Southern District of Florida, and courts in the United Kingdom, Australia, The Netherlands, South Korea, Canada, Bermuda, and the Eastern Caribbean. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware adopted the Modalities on an interim basis on July 25, 2019. It is anticipated that other courts will do so as well in the near term.

Mark G. Douglas (Jones Day) summarized key features of the Modalities and other developments since the Guidelines for Communication and Cooperation Between Courts in Cross-Border Insolvency Matters as developed and implemented by JIN (the judicial Insolvency Network) here.

In In re PT Bakrie Telecom Tbk, 601 B.R. 707 (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. 2019), the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York provided a primer on several important issues that a court may have to consider in ruling on a petition for recognition of a foreign bankruptcy proceeding under chapter 15 of the Bankruptcy Code. These include the requirement that a foreign debtor have property in the United States before being eligible for chapter 15, the rules regarding the appointment of a “foreign representative” for the debtor, what qualifies as a “collective proceeding” for the purpose of chapter 15 recognition, and the “public policy” exception to recognition. One notable conclusion by the court is that merely because a foreign proceeding has concluded does not prevent the later appointment of a foreign representative.

An examination of all of the issues highlighted by PT Bakrie entails a detailed factual analysis and careful application of the provisions of chapter 15 consistent with its underlying principles and purpose in providing assistance to foreign tribunals overseeing cross-border bankruptcy cases. Dan T. Moss and Mark G. Douglas (Jones Day) provided such a close examination and detailed analysis of the case here.

Crossing The Line In Cross-Border Insolvencies
by | posted in: Bankruptcy Administration and Jurisdiction, International and Comparative | 0

By Jonathan C. Gordon (Jones Day).

Consider an insolvency proceeding outside the United States. To obtain ancillary relief in the U.S., an authorized representative from that foreign proceeding can file a petition with a U.S. court under chapter 15 of the Bankruptcy Code. In chapter 15, the foreign representative acts as a liaison between the U.S. proceeding and the foreign proceeding. For example, the representative must update the U.S. court of substantial developments in the foreign proceeding.

But what happens when that foreign representative (appointed by a foreign court) commits misconduct in the U.S. proceeding; what can the U.S. court do? As I explain in my paper, courts have struggled with a solution. For one, the Bankruptcy Code does not address this situation (nor does the related UNCITRAL Model Law). And common law is equally unavailing; courts have tried and suggested potential solutions, but those approaches (and others) fall short.

In my paper, I propose a novel solution that is simple yet effective: the U.S. court should request the foreign court to replace the foreign representative. I also analyze legal issues related to the solution’s implementation, such as judicial authority, burden of proof, timing, and interim relief.

The full paper, recently published in the ABI Law Review, can be accessed here.

Recent Developments in Bankruptcy Law, April 2018
by | posted in: Bankruptcy Administration and Jurisdiction, Derivatives, Financial Firms and Safe Harbors | 0

By Richard Levin (Jenner & Block LLP)

The bankruptcy courts and their appellate courts continue to explore issues of interest to practitioners and academics. This quarterly summary of recent developments in bankruptcy law covers cases reported during the first quarter of 2018.

Most notable were two Supreme Court decisions. Merit Mgmt. Group, LP. v. FTI Consulting, Inc. substantially reduced the scope of the financial contracts avoiding power safe harbor by directing courts to focus on the ultimate recipient of the transfer, rather than on the intermediate financial institutions who participated in the transfer. Village at Lakeridge ducked the substantive bankruptcy law issue of the standard for determining who is a non-statutory insider (although the dissent tackled it) and instead ruled only on the appellate standard of review of such determinations. 

Moving in the opposite direction from the Supreme Court’s reduction of safe harbor protections, the New York district court, on an appeal from the bankruptcy court’s decision, gave a broad reading to the ability of swap counter-parties under section 560 to close out and distribute collateral upon a default. (Lehman Bros.).

The Ninth Circuit took a strong position on the open question in the application of section 1129(a)(10), requiring an impaired consenting class for confirmation, adopting the “per-plan” approach. (Transwest) And the Fourth Circuit gave another boost to reorganizing real estate debtors by permitting a bankruptcy court to value collateral in a partial “dirt-for-debt” plan. (Bates Land).

In a case largely of first impression, the Texas bankruptcy court proposed rules to apply the “single satisfaction” rule of section 550(d) when the trustee settles with some but not all defendants. (Provident Royalties).

During the first quarter, the bankruptcy courts also expanded the reach of chapter 15 and its effectiveness. (Manley Toys, B.C.I. Finances Pty Ltd., Energy Coal S.P.A., Avanti, and Platinum Partners).

The full memo, discussing these and other cases, is available here, and the full (900-page) compilation of all prior editions is available here.

Reconciling “Additional Assistance” with “Appropriate Relief” in Ch. 15
by | posted in: Bankruptcy Administration and Jurisdiction | 0

By David L. Eaton (Kirkland & Ellis LLP) and Aaron J. David (Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP)*

When faced with a Chapter 15 foreign representative seeking discretionary post-recognition relief on behalf of a foreign debtor, courts have struggled to decide whether the requested relief falls under § 1507(a), referring to “additional assistance” and subject to the factors enumerated in § 1507(b), or under § 1521, affording “appropriate relief” under the balancing test in § 1522.  Because both provisions seem to enable courts to provide discretionary relief, but subject to different standards, courts and commentators have lamented the difficulty of assessing “where section 1521 ends and where section 1507 begins.”

In our view, the problem is illusory.  We revisit Chapter 15 in light of the “language and design of the statute as a whole” to argue that § 1507 has been misinterpreted.  On our reading, §1507 is not, itself, a source of discretionary relief, but rather sets out principles to guide courts in granting any discretionary relief, including under § 1521.  Specifically, § 1507(a) allows courts to employ applicable non-bankruptcy law in fashioning discretionary relief, and § 1507(b) imposes standards that preserve pre-Chapter 15 jurisprudence governing such relief.  Interpreting § 1507 this way clarifies that § 1521 is the true source of discretionary relief, but that it should be employed against the background principles of § 1507.

The full article was published in the ABI Journal and is available here.

*David Eaton is a recently retired partner of Kirkland & Ellis LLP.  Aaron David is an associate at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP.  The article reflects the views of authors, and does not represent the views of Kirkland & Ellis or Paul, Weiss.

Bankruptcy Jurisdiction Over Foreign Entities: Exorbitant or Congruent?
by | posted in: Bankruptcy Administration and Jurisdiction | 0

By Adrian Walters (Chicago-Kent College of Law, Illinois Institute of Technology)

As Oscar Couwenberg and Stephen Lubben have demonstrated, foreign firms commonly file for bankruptcy in the United States in order to take advantage of chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code. But overseas critics tend to balk at the ease with which global bankruptcy jurisdiction can be engineered in the United States through a combination of the Bankruptcy Code’s low bar to entry and the worldwide effects of a bankruptcy case. They complain that the formal structure of U.S. eligibility and jurisdictional rules promote abusive bankruptcy forum shopping and the harmful imposition of U.S. norms on non-U.S. stakeholders.

This article advances a revised account of U.S. bankruptcy jurisdiction over non-U.S. debtors from a distinctively Anglo-American standpoint. The article’s thesis is that critics overemphasize formal jurisdictional rules and pay insufficient attention to how U.S. courts actually exercise jurisdiction in practice. It compares the formal law “on the books” in the U.S. and U.K. for determining whether or not a domestic insolvency or restructuring proceeding relating to a foreign debtor can be maintained in each jurisdiction and provides a functional account of how U.S. bankruptcy jurisdiction over foreign entities is exercised in practice, using the concept of jurisdictional congruence as a benchmark. While the American and British approaches to abusive forum shopping are developing on different legal cultural paths, the article also identifies reasons for thinking that they are trending towards a rough functional equivalence influenced, at least in part, by the U.S.’s commitment to the UNCITRAL Model Law through chapter 15 of the Bankruptcy Code.

In sum, the article lays foundations for further critical reflection on the roles that judges, practitioners, and the “center of main interests” standard play in configuring the market for international bankruptcy case filings and in facilitating and regulating forum shopping in that market. Through the lens of legal development, it also presents some practical and policy challenges for universalism, international insolvency law’s dominant theory.

The full article is available here.

The Dubai World Tribunal and the Global Insolvency Crisis
by | posted in: International and Comparative | 0

By Jayanth Krishnan (Indiana—Bloomington)

In 2009, as markets from the United States to Europe to the Global South shook, one country—the United Arab Emirates—found itself on the brink of economic collapse.  The U.A.E’s Emirate of Dubai was contemplating defaulting on $60 billion of debt it had amassed.  Recognizing that such a default would have cataclysmic reverberations across the globe, the government of Dubai turned to a small group of foreign consultants for assistance.  The resulting legal experiment demonstrates how aspects of American corporate bankruptcy law can be imported into and prove useful in the context of a foreign legal tradition. During the crisis, insolvency lawyers from the U.S. law firm of Latham & Watkins, analysts from the New York-based investment bank Moelis, and accountants from PwC – together with local domestic counterparts and experts from the U.K.– devised a highly sophisticated plan that helped the Emirate address the economic crisis in which it found itself.  As part of this plan, Chapter 11 and Chapter 15 principles from the U.S. Bankruptcy code, the 2/3 cram down technique on hold-out creditors, and an Anglo-American insolvency tribunal were introduced into Dubai in order to bring about economic stability and handle the highly complex cases that arose during the financial crisis. By respecting and interpreting U.A.E. law, the tribunal has maintained its legitimacy in the eyes of the Dubai government even as it has drawn on Anglo-American insolvency concepts.

On December 13, this study will be formally presented at a public event in Dubai by Indiana-Bloomington’s Center on the Global Legal Profession, where insolvency experts and policymakers from the U.S., Dubai, and the U.K. will be present.

The full article can be found here.

Chapter 15 Recognition in the United States: Is a Debtor “Presence” Required?
by | posted in: International and Comparative | 0

By Daniel M. Glosband, Goodwin Procter LLP, and Jay Lawrence Westbrook, The University of Texas School of Law

Glosband_M_Daniel WestbrookIn a recent case, In re Barnet, 737 F. 3d 238 (2d Cir. 2013), the Court held that section 109(a) of the Bankruptcy Code bars a foreign bankruptcy proceeding from recognition under Chapter 15 unless the debtor in the foreign proceeding also has a presence in the United States. The Court professed to use a plain meaning rule, but its plain meaning approach and its conclusion that section 109(a) applied to recognition were inappropriate for several reasons:

1) since the term “debtor”  is defined differently in Chapter 15 than in section 101(13), it cannot have a “plain” meaning for Chapter 15 purposes;

2) while it is plain that section 103(a) applies Chapter 1 to Chapter 15, the way in which section 109(a) functions in relation to Chapter 15 is not straightforward and requires a structural analysis that the Court sidestepped;  and

3) the Congressional mandate in section 1508—which requires that, in interpreting Chapter 15, courts shall consider its international origin and the need to promote an application that is consistent with the needs of international insolvency practice—requires flexibility, not rigid literalism.

Section 109(a) should not apply to recognition of a foreign proceeding. The Barnet decision represents a stubborn adherence to literal statutory interpretation when the statutory provisions at issue prima facie were not susceptible to literal interpretation and when Congress instructed courts to look beyond the statute for guidance in harmonizing Chapter 15 with the Model Law.

This is a brief summary of a much longer article forthcoming in the International Insolvency Review. For the full article see here. Copyright © 2015 INSOL International and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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