In this long‑running Chapter 15 case, a foreign representative sought bank records from JPMorgan tied to a debtor’s principal now in the U.S. The principal had already produced those records—selectively redacted—and invoked the Fifth Amendment to justify both the redactions and to block JPMorgan from producing unredacted copies.
The court rejected both arguments.
The act‑of‑production privilege protects only the testimonial aspects of producing documents—admissions of existence, possession, and authenticity. It does not allow a party to produce documents with strategic redactions. As such, once the principal voluntarily produced the statements, those testimonial elements were conceded and nothing remained to protect.
Further, the Court held, the privilege cannot stop a third‑party bank from complying with a subpoena because the privilege is personal to the individual and does not extend to the bank/custodian.
Practice Note: The Fifth Amendment is a shield, not a scalpel. One can refuse to produce documents entirely, but one can’t produce them in redacted form or block a third party bank or custodian from producing the same records.
In re B.C.I. Finances Pty Ltd. (In Liquidation), et al., No. 17-11266 (SAB) (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. May 26, 2026) 2026 WL 1480366