The American Bankruptcy Institute reported December Chapter 11 filings were 699, up 107% from the previous year. Calendar year 2017 Chapter 11 filings were 5,744, a 6% increase from 5,447 filings in 2016.
According to the ABI and Epiq Systems, total commercial Chapter 11 bankruptcies for the month of June 2017 increased 16% but commercial Chapter 11 filings have dropped 7% in 2017 overall.
Branding has become the buzz word of the 21st century for marketers promoting their products. But brands themselves have value and can be used as collateral when structuring a loan. Hugh Larratt-Smith explains how these loans are created and explores the successes and the pitfalls of lending against brands.
Even lenders who exercise the most thorough due diligence sometimes have to exit their loans. Turnaround specialist Ken Mann offers tips to help lenders make smart decisions in 2017.
For the sixth straight year, fewer bankruptcy cases were filed. American Bankruptcy Institute Executive Director Sam Gerdano and Consultant Ed Flynn provide a more nuanced look at the patterns that emerged in 2016 and predicts a quiet year ahead.
Lenders often set a default rate of interest in a loan agreement as protection if the borrower defaults. They expect the courts to honor the rate, but it doesn’t always happen. Attorneys Jeffrey Wurst and Suzanne Mourad explain how conflicting clauses in the bankruptcy code often allow the borrower to roll back the interest rate.
It’s no secret that brick-and-mortar retailers are struggling to stay in business. Stephen Selbst examines the factors that have created the current retail crisis. He explains why Chapter 11 does not effectively give retailers an opportunity to restructure and suggests avenues that lenders can take to protect themselves from exposure.
As the senior lender, your rights to recoup your funds should be top priority during bankruptcy proceedings. But those pesky subordinate lenders often get in the way. Rocco I. Debitetto explains the best way to craft an intercreditor agreement that forces subordinate lenders to “sit down, shut up and mind their own business” until you get paid.
For many years, bankruptcy courts failed to enforce intercreditor agreements because the parties involved were not in bankruptcy. Courts today are enforcing these agreements strictly according to their text. Failure to note the precise wording of an intercreditor agreement can trip up a first lien lender and give the second lien lender the upper hand during bankruptcy proceedings.