Mayer Brown partners Adam C. Paul, Sean T. Scott, Louis S. Chiappetta, Aaron Gavant, and Tyler R. Ferguson recently published an article for Mayer Brown’s Perspectives & Events portal on the December 16, 2021, decision in which Judge Colleen McMahon of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York reversed the bankruptcy
Recapping 2021, Bloomberg reported that last year saw the fewest annual bankruptcy filings in nearly four decades, falling 24% from 2020. A total of 3,596 chapter 11 cases were filed in 2021, about 3,000 fewer than the year before. The stimulus funds and easy access to liquidity combined with debt forbearance were pointed as the
Bloomberg reports that the decrease in large U.S. bankruptcy filings may be attributable in part to the use of distressed exchanges in which creditors accept discounts on their debt in exchange for better claims on a borrower’s assets, a later maturity, or both.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Senator Elizabeth Warren plans to introduce
On Friday, March 19, 2021, Congressional lawmakers introduced a bill that would amend the U.S. Bankruptcy Code to prohibit bankruptcy judges from permanently enjoining or releasing legal claims of states, tribes, municipalities or the U.S. government against non-debtors.
According to media reports, the bill, which is named the “SACKLER Act,” (i.e., the “Stop Shielding Assets from Corporate Known Liability by Eliminating Non-Debtor Releases Act”) is specifically designed to prevent members of the Sackler family, who own OxyContin-maker Purdue Pharma LP, from using the bankruptcy process to obtain legal releases from government lawsuits. Purdue Pharma LP filed for bankruptcy in September 2019, but none of the members of the Sackler family have filed for bankruptcy as individuals. Nevertheless, the Sacklers have offered to contribute roughly $4.28 billion as part of a proposed bankruptcy plan to fund payouts to victims who suffered injuries linked to Purdue Pharma’s opioids over the next decade in exchange for legal releases that would enjoin claims against the Sackler family. If approved, those legal releases would shield the Sackler family from further liability related to the opioid crisis, something that many state attorneys general have ardently opposed.
Continue Reading Wither Non-Debtor Releases? Purdue Pharma and the Proposed SACKLER Act
PG&E Corp. received approval from the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California to sell $20 billion worth of new debt and equity, reports the Wall Street Journal. Approximately $10.7 billion worth of both investment grade and high-yield bonds will be issued and the company is seeking to find investors to
Reporting from Bloomberg indicates that April 2020 consumer spending in the United States dropped 13.6% from March, which is the sharpest month-over-month drop in approximately 60 years’ worth of consumer spending data maintained by the Commerce Department. [Bloomberg; May 29, 2020]
The Wall Street Journal reports that 24 Hour Fitness Worldwide Inc. is seeking a