The Momentive Performance Materials bankruptcy resulted in a number of disputes on issues germane to bankruptcy practitioners, including on intercreditor agreements (as we wrote about here), the enforceability of makewhole premiums and the proper interest rate in the context of a Chapter 11 cramdown plan.  On that third issue, Judge Drain entered an order on remand in April addressing the proper cram-down rate for two classes of senior noteholders that had been issued replacement…

Could the US already be in a recession?  [USA Today; June 25, 2019] Puerto Rico’s Financial Oversight and Management Board proposes bankruptcy plan framework that would cut debt payments by half over the next 30 years [CNBC; June 16, 2019] As part of proposed agreement between CFPB, attorneys general from 43 states and defunct for-profit college ITT Tech,  more than 18,000 students will have $168 million in private loan debt discharged [MarketWatch; June 17, 2019] Lease transaction leading to …

On June 19, Nicole Saharsky, co-leader of Mayer Brown’s Supreme Court & Appellate practice, discussed how free enterprise fared in the latest US Supreme Court term.  A webinar of the program is available here. As discussed in our earlier post, during this term, Nicole and a Mayer Brown team which included partner (and blog co-host) Aaron Gavant along with  partner Andy Tauber and associates Matt Waring and Minh Nguyen-Dang, secured a resounding victory for…

In this four-part You Tube series, Mayer Brown partner Jason Elder offers practical insights on high-yield debt for Asia-based issuers seeking to understand important covenants and trends.   Supreme Court agrees to review constitutional challenge to board overseeing bankrupt Puerto Rico’s finances [WSJ; June 20, 2019] In this post, the LSTA questions the alleged opacity of CLOs as well as their potential for long-term stabilizing or destabilizing effects on financial markets [LSTA Website; June 20, 2019]…

The question of whether a debtor’s plan of reorganization can include non-consensual releases for non-debtor parties has been hotly contested for several years, with circuit courts oftentimes split.  In his recent decision on the topic in the Aegean case,  New York Southern District Bankruptcy Judge Michael E. Wiles explored the limitations on such releases even in permissive jurisdictions such as the Second Circuit. Specifically, as discussed further in this article by Mayer Brown attorneys Barbara Goodstein,…

Bipartisan proposal for new small business provisions in Bankruptcy Code [American Bankruptcy Institute Journal; May 2019] Latest memo from Oaktree’s Howard Marks on why this time market cycle isn’t different [OakTree; June 12, 2019] Is the “vast” liquidity in the market a mirage?  Bloomberg chimes in [Bloomberg; June 13, 2019] Morgan Stanley Business Conditions Index fell by 32 points in June, the largest one-month decline on record [CNBC; June 13, 2019] Commodity Prices Set 50-Year Lows …

Without additional explanation, the Supreme Court recently denied NextEra’s request for further review of its $275 million break fee request following the scuttling of its multi-billion dollar transaction to acquire the majority of Energy Future Holdings Corp.’s assets (see item 8 under “Certiorari Denied” list here). Following the bankruptcy court’s reconsideration (and reversal) of its prior approval of such fee, and the Third Circuit’s opinion affirming that decision, NextEra petitioned the Supreme Court, arguing that the…