Basis Points

TOUSA involved one of the largest fraudulent transfer litigations in bankruptcy history.  The Bankruptcy Court agreed with the Unsecured Creditors’ Committee that both the so-called “New Lenders” and the “Transeastern Lenders” received fraudulent transfers as part of a July 31, 2007 financing transaction.  The District Court reversed in a scathing opinion, but today the 11^th Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed the District Court and reinstated the Bankruptcy Court’s opinion in its entirety. (more…)

The game is tied with three seconds to play in regulation: an inbounds pass, one dribble—and a long shot at the buzzer. It’s the drama we love and expect this month, but whether the result is the thrill of victory or the agony of defeat depends not only on whether the shot goes in but also whether it leaves the shooter’s hands before the buzzer sounds.¹ (more…)

In an Order issued yesterday by the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas in the Omega Navigation Enterprises, Inc. (Omega) chapter 11 cases, Judge Karen Brown has denied motions to dismiss or convert Omega’s chapter 11 cases or for relief from stay filed by Omega’s Senior Lenders and supported by Omega’s Junior Lenders and Unsecured Creditors’ Committee. In the view of Lloyd’s List, a leading industry publication: (more…)

In an Order issued yesterday by the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas in the Omega Navigation Enterprises, Inc. (Omega) chapter 11 cases (the Show Cause Order), Judge Karen Brown has directed Omega’s Senior Lenders, Junior Lenders and Unsecured Creditors’ Committee to show cause whether they should be sanctioned for the conduct described in the Show Cause Order, a copy of which can be found HERE. (more…)

After four long years, Australia-based Centro Properties Group (“CNP”) has consummated a global restructuring that combines a debt-for-equity swap with an aggregation of its assets into a new real estate investment trust, Centro Retail Australia (“CRF”). Bracewell & Giuliani was first engaged by Centro’s private placement noteholders in December 2007. As the restructuring progressed Bracewell’s role expanded to becoming lead counsel for CNP’s entire international lending syndicate consisting of more than 90 distressed debt investors, institutional investors and commercial banks (the “Senior Lenders”). (more…)

Bracewell & Giuliani LLP announced today it won a major bankruptcy verdict on behalf of Netherlands-based global maritime shipping company Marco Polo Seatrade BV and three of its affiliates in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. The decision rendered by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge James M. Peck rejects motions by Marco Polo’s secured banks seeking dismissal on jurisdictional and other grounds of the Chapter 11 filings. (more…)

The enforcement of triangular setoffs in bankruptcy, where affiliates set off their claims against the debtor, received another setback in a recent decision in the Lehman bankruptcy cases. See In re Lehman Brothers Inc., No. 08-01420 (JMP) (SIPA), 2011 WL 4553015 (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. Oct. 4, 2011). Judge Peck’s decision followed the Delaware Bankruptcy Court’s seminal decision in In re SemCrude, L.P., 399 B.R. 388 (Bankr. D. Del. 2009), which found that affiliated entities do not satisfy the mutuality requirement for triangular setoff under section 553(a) of the Bankruptcy Code.

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Much has already been written about the “insider trading” aspects of Judge Walrath’s September 13 Opinion denying confirmation of WaMu’s Chapter 11 plan of reorganization (the Opinion can be found HERE). In a nutshell, Judge Walrath expressed the view that a person in possession of MNPI (material non-public information) could be considered to be engaged in insider trading even after the MNPI restriction period ends. (more…)