In the realm of lending, the perfected Uniform Commercial Code-1 (“UCC-1”) is the hallmark of security.  If a secured asset has value, and the liens are valid, what other issues are there to consider?  Well, in at least one instance, underlying intercompany notes were the issue.  And because of the nature of these notes, the perfected UCC-1 lost its shine. In a bankruptcy case filed in the 5th District, the U.S. Debtor parent company had a number of lending agreements with different banks.  Subsidiaries of the parent company, including foreign […]

There is a seeming irony here in that a company that files for bankruptcy often does not have the cash to do so. That’s where DIP financing comes in.

This series was started with a broad overview of business bankruptcy, but our last few installments have focused on: unsecured creditors the priority scheme in bankruptcy protecting/collecting your claim In this installment, we draw on our discussion of the priority scheme, with a special focus on super and residual priorities. As previously discussed, not all claims are treated the same.  At its foundation, claims can be divided into two general buckets—secured and unsecured.  If there is collateral securing the claim, it is secured.  If not, it’s unsecured.  However, Congress decided […]

This series was started (click here to read from the beginning) with a broad overview of business bankruptcy but our last few installments have focused on unsecured creditors (click here to read about unsecured creditors) and the priority scheme in bankruptcy (click here for the 30,000-foot view or you can find more specific treatment here). In this installment, we move on to the nuts and bolts of filing, preserving and protecting your claim in bankruptcy. A. File Proof of Claims and Adhere to Bar Dates to Protect Your Claim Of all bankruptcy case deadlines, the […]

A written tour of business bankruptcy and its alternatives. If you would like to read from the beginning, this series started here with a broad overview of business bankruptcy. Most recently, the series has focused on the automatic stay, where you can find the 30,000-foot view. Or you can find more specific treatment here. In this installment, we give a crash course from a particular perspective – the unsecured creditor. When a debtor files for bankruptcy, creditors hold different types of claims or interests against the debtor’s estate.  Generally, these claims […]

The economy, stupid. -James Carville The corporate restructuring profession has become, much like the broader economy, increasingly a world of few “haves” and many “have nots.” This is not by accident, and it is not going away. Those who see and accept the industry for what it is—and pivot accordingly—will continue to be winners. Those who possess a limited repertoire of moves and simply hope for economic downturns will continue to fight for limited market share. How We Got Here Chapter 11 Was Once New Technology The Bankruptcy Code is […]

Everybody knows that the dice are loaded:  reclamation rights are illusory in bankruptcy cases.  Where a supplier ships goods to a company that later files for bankruptcy, section 546(c) of the Bankruptcy Code provides reclamation remedies (i.e., supplier getting the goods back) under certain circumstances (there are time limits, etc.) if the supplier has such rights under state law (e.g., Uniform Commercial Code section 2-702). But most corporate debtors have a secured creditor in place with liens on all property of the debtor, including inventory and proceeds thereof.  And most […]

A written tour of business bankruptcy and its alternatives We started this series (click here to start reading from the beginning) with a broad overview of business bankruptcy but our last several installments have focused on one small, albeit important, aspect- the automatic stay.  We’ve heard from a number of readers that they would like to read more about the proverbial forest, rather than just the automatic stay tree.  And, so, with this installment we pan the camera back to explain a concept that is at play throughout a bankruptcy […]

A written tour of business bankruptcy and its alternatives Our prior installment discussed some of the basic things a secured creditor needs to know about Chapter 11. The automatic stay was one of them.  But, since we like to keep these things short (on the presumption that others also have short attention spans) we didn’t say all we want to say on the topic (in fact, this installment won’t satiate us either and we will continue to explain other aspects of the automatic stay in future installments). For now, we […]

A written tour of business bankruptcy and its alternatives In our past few installments we’ve been approaching our topic in a more or less chronological manner, explaining what generally happens first, second, third, and so on. We think it useful to switch convention and spend this and the next few installments talking about things from the perspective of specific players. This time, we focus on the secured creditor. What/who is a secured creditor?  Examples include (there are other possibilities): The holder of a real estate mortgage A bank with a […]