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- Revlon Lenders Must Return $500 Million Mistaken Wire Transfer to Citibank, N.A. On September 8, 2022, the Second Circuit held that lenders to Revlon, Inc., a global cosmetics company, must return approximately $500 million to Citibank N.A., which Citibank had inadvertently paid on Revlon’s behalf. The decision vacated a lower court’s ruling from 2021 that the lenders could retain the funds. On August 11, 2020, Citibank, as agent under a term loan agreement, intended to process a $7.8 million interest payment by Revlon to its lenders. Instead, Citibank mistakenly wired the entire principal... More
- Landmark Delaware Bankruptcy Court Ruling that Debtors Did Not Have to Pay Make-Whole Premium Was in Error, First Lien Lenders’ Argue on Appeal Last November, Judge John Dorsey of the Delaware Bankruptcy Court held in the Mallinckrodt chapter 11 case that the debtors did not have to pay a $94 million “make-whole” premium that was provided for in an indenture governing first lien notes. The indenture provides for automatic acceleration following an Event of Default, which includes a bankruptcy filing. Acceleration makes “the principal of, premium, if any, and interest on all the Notes . . . immediately due and payable . .... More
- Illinois Bankruptcy Court Weighs In on Chapter 7 Substantial Contribution Claims In re Concepts America, Inc., 625 B.R. 881 (Bankr. N.D. Ill. 2021), weighs in on a murky question: Can a creditor make an administrative expense priority claim because it made a substantial contribution in a case under chapter 7? The court answered no. In Concepts America, creditor Galleria Mall Investors LP moved the bankruptcy court for allowance and payment of an administrative expense claim pursuant to sections 503(b)(3)(A), (b)(3)(D), and (b)(4) of the Bankruptcy Code. Around May 2011, the Galleria entered into... More
- Bronx Miracle Gospel Tabernacle: Lender’s Nightmare Continues In a recent appeal to the Second Circuit, Bronx Miracle Gospel Tabernacle Word of Faith (the “Church”), asks the Second Circuit for relief from the sale of its property by a bankruptcy trustee. The Church’s action seeks damages against the trustee and her counsel and the bankruptcy judge who approved the sale. The action claims that the Church’s religious rights under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (“RFRA”) and the Constitution have been violated in the bankruptcy court. The Church’s appeal... More
- Prospective Loss of Equity Is No Basis to Enjoin a UCC Foreclosure, Appellate Division Holds A First Department decision from last month makes it harder for mezzanine borrowers to enjoin UCC foreclosure sales. When there is a default under mezzanine loan documents, the lenders can retake their collateral by noticing and conducting foreclosure sales under the UCC. But mezzanine borrowers can seek relief from a court to enjoin UCC foreclosure sales. During the COVID-19 pandemic, some borrowers succeeded in preventing mezzanine lenders from exercising their rights to a prompt UCC sale by obtaining injunctive relief in New... More
- Bankruptcy Court Affirms Availability of 1111(b) Election in Subchapter V Cases Introduction In In re VP Williams Trans, LLC,[1] Judge Michael Wiles of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York confirmed that a secured creditor may make an election under section 1111(b) of the United States Bankruptcy Code (the “Bankruptcy Code”) in a proceeding under subchapter V of the Bankruptcy Code for small business debtors. Judge Wiles’s decision appears to be the first decision on this issue in this Circuit since subchapter V of the Bankruptcy Code came into... More