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After a pause in 2022, there has been much talk of the continuation, or resumption, of a wave of retail bankruptcy cases as we begin 2023.  2022 was highlighted by Revlon’s filing (discussed here: Revlon May Signal Another Wave of Retail Bankruptcies | Retail & Consumer Products Law Observer (retailconsumerproductslaw.com)).  Revlon pointed to a number of issues that led to its filing, including most prominently, supply chain issues. Severe impediments in the supply chain – whether the inability to source product or the costs and delays in received goods — have been cited by many debtors since Revlon since as a leading cause of their distress.  And it may get much worse before it gets better, particularly for companies that source, directly or indirectly, from China.…

Continue Reading Continued Pain in the Retail Sector:  Coming Enforcement of Forced Labor Laws

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Chapter 15 of the Bankruptcy Code provides a mechanism for United States cooperation and coordination with insolvency proceedings abroad, often affording foreign debtors wide-ranging relief and expansive rights through the United States Bankruptcy Court system.  Not all proceedings in foreign jurisdictions are eligible — in order to be so, a proceeding must constitute a “foreign proceeding” under the Bankruptcy Code. The Bankruptcy Code defines a “foreign proceeding” as “a collective judicial or administrative proceeding in a foreign country…  under a law relating to insolvency or adjustment of debt in which proceeding the assets and affairs of the debtor are subject to control or supervision by a foreign court, for the purpose of reorganization or liquidation.”  It is generally understood that the definition should be interpreted liberally. Recently, the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York tested the limits of Chapter 15, providing important guidance regarding the eligibility of proceedings that do not involve “insolvency or the identification, classification, or satisfaction of debt.” See In re Global Cord Blood Corporation, Case No. 22-11347 (December 5, 2022).…

Continue Reading A Line in the Sand: Caymans Proceeding Ineligible for Chapter 15

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Over a decade after Lehman’s insolvency, the English High Court handed down a key judgement in Grant v FR Acquisitions Corporation (Europe) Ltd [1] on 11 October 2022. The judgement provides commentary on when certain Events of Default have occurred and are “continuing”.

Although the court addressed these issues in the context of interest rate swaps entered into pursuant to an ISDA Master Agreement (the “Transactions”) and the impact of Lehman’s UK entity, LBIE, coming out of administration, the judgement may have implications beyond the derivatives market, for example in the context of financing agreements, corporate documentation, and distressed debt trading, as well as cross-border restructuring or insolvency situations.…

Continue Reading When Is an Event of Default “Continuing”?

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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 Management, LLC (“Invictus”), a distressed investment fund that recently purchased the claims subject to a “plan support provision” which purportedly compelled the claimholder to support the Debtors’ Plan.  Invictus nonetheless voted against the Plan which threatened to hold-up confirmation and force an expensive trial relating to whether the Debtors are able to satisfy the “cram-down” provisions of the Bankruptcy Code.[1]
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Continue Reading Plan Support Covenants Survive Attack in Aeromexico’s Bankruptcy Proceeding

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Hot on the heels of crises driven by shortages of carbon dioxide and HGV drivers, it is perhaps the ultimate irony that – in the month before COP 26 in Glasgow – the UK and to a lesser extent much of the rest of the world has been rocked by a series of crises in the fossil fuel driven energy market.  Whilst much of Asia is being impacted by a shortage of coal, Europe is feeling the full effects of a shortage of natural gas.  This is perhaps particularly acute in the UK for a number of reasons including reduced storage capacity, issues with one of the key grid interconnectors to France, and a spike in global demand as the world economy seeks to pick up from where it left off pre-pandemic.  The result?  Eye watering wholesale gas prices that have risen more than double since January 2021, with a 70% increase since August. Prices rocketed a further 37% in one day on 6 October.
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Continue Reading Energy Crisis Looms for Business

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In these unprecedented times, all businesses will be facing issues they have never encountered before. The disruption caused by the measures imposed to combat the COVID-19 outbreak are significant and wide-reaching, impacting every business and its suppliers, customers, workforce, investors and lenders. At Crowell & Moring, our lawyers across the globe have extensive experience of …

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Crowell & Moring has released its Regulatory Forecast 2020: What Corporate Counsel Need to Know for the Coming Year, a report that explores the impact of regulatory changes on the technology industry and other sectors, and provides insight into the issues in-house counsel can expect to face in the coming year.

For 2020, the…

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Crowell & Moring has released Litigation Forecast 2020: What Corporate Counsel Need to Know for the Coming Year. The eighth-annual Forecast provides forward-looking insights from leading Crowell & Moring lawyers to help legal departments anticipate and respond to challenges that might arise in the year ahead.

For 2020, the Forecast focuses on how the…

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Forbes has created its inaugural “America’s Top Corporate Law Firms” list and worked with the market research firm Statistica to conduct an online survey of lawyers both at law firms and GCs between April 1 and May 17, 2019.

Self-recommendations were not considered and law firms that received the most recommendations were included…

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The London ABL and Restructuring team at Crowell & Moring feature in this month’s Business Magazine, following their arrival earlier in 2019 from the London office of Squire Patton Boggs.

The article comments on the growth of the London team, its approach to market and how the new team differentiates itself from the rest…