Corporate Bankruptcy Firm In Kansas And Missouri

With the increasing interdependence of international trade, it is reasonable to expect that cross-border insolvency proceedings will become more common. It is not too difficult to imagine a time in the future when cases that span at least one international border become routine. According to federal law, a “foreign proceeding” means “judicial or administrative proceedings in a foreign country…under a law relating to insolvency or adjustment of a debt in which proceeding the [debtor’s assets and business] are subject to control or supervision by a foreign court for the purpose of reorganization or liquidation.” 11 U.S.C. §101(23). Obviously, such proceedings present many complex issues involving choice of law, locating of property, equal treatment of creditors, and various other issues.

The road in this area of the law has been a rocky one.  Some countries (e.g., Finland, Ireland, The Netherlands) historically have not recognized foreign bankruptcy proceedings at all. Other nations take a different approach, assuming that their own proceedings should have universal applicability while denying such treatment to other nations. In the United States, Chapter 15 of the Bankruptcy Code deals with foreign bankruptcy proceedings. Chapter 15 was only recently added to the Bankruptcy Code (in 2005) with the passage of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of that year. Chapter 15 allows proceedings for a foreign debtor to access U.S. Bankruptcy Courts. It was intended to modernize and harmonize the law of cross-border bankruptcy proceedings. Chapter 15 cases have been filed for various purposes:

• To protect the assets of a foreign creditor that may be located in the United States from actions by creditors;
• To establish orderly procedures for U.S. creditors to follow in the filing of claims actions against foreign creditors;
• To bind creditors to the terms of a restructuring plan that may have been created in a foreign jurisdiction;
• To facilitate asset sales or liquidations that may have originally arisen in a foreign proceeding;
• To permit a foreign debtor to use the cash collateral of its big creditors in the U.S.;
• To permit discovery of parties subject to U.S. Bankruptcy Court jurisdiction

Chapter 15 cases are rather unique. Debtors under Chapter 15 have a great deal of power. The filing of proofs of claims is fundamentally different from the other chapters of the Bankruptcy Code. The foreign debtor’s representative in the U.S. has many powers similar to those of a debtor in possession under Chapter 11. They may examine witnesses, sell assets, and operate the business affairs. However, they typically are restricted in undertaking avoidance actions, such as fraudulent conveyances. In addition, it is well to note that relief under Chapter 15 is limited under Section 1506 of the Bankruptcy Code. Under this section, a U.S. bankruptcy court may decide against taking action that would be “manifestly contrary to the public policy of this country.”

The trend is this area of the law is clearly towards greater internationalization and universality. A recent case from the Southern District of New York is illustrative. The case is In Re Rede Energia, S.A (14-10078, SCC). The company, Rede Energia, SA, was a Brazilian business that had a plan of reorganization that had been filed and confirmed in Brazil. At issue was the question of how (and to what extent) would Rede Energia’s reorganization plan would be recognized in the United States. Rede Energia (the debtor) was a major power company in Brazil. Its foreign administrator in the US commenced a Chapter 15 proceeding in New York. The debtor’s plan had been “crammed down” in Brazil over the objections of some creditors. The debtor sought an order from the New York bankruptcy court that would give “full faith and credit” to the Brazilian confirmed plan of reorganization.

Some of Rede’s unhappy creditors in New York argued that, under Section 1506 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, the Brazilian plan of reorganization was clearly violative of U.S. public policy. (Specifically, the creditors complained that the plan had three classes of unsecured creditors, which were being treated differently). But the New York bankruptcy court ruled otherwise, in a decision that will be an important precedent as these types of cases become more and more common. Under Chapter 15, the court stated, there is no requirement that the laws of a foreign nation (e.g., Brazil) be identical to those of the U.S. Rather, the issue was whether the creditors received a reasonable degree of due process and fairness in the original proceeding.

Looking at the issue this way, the New York court found that the objecting creditors in New York did in fact receive a full and fair hearing on all of their issues during the legal proceedings in Brazil. They could not now reopen these issues. Furthermore, the court held, it would not be appropriate for a U.S. court to “superimpose” its own law over those of a foreign country. Finality, and a sort of “cross-border res judicata”, were key factors in the decision. The New York court was similarly unpersuaded by the creditors’ argument that treating differently the three classes of unsecured creditors was a big problem.

On the contrary, the court noted that it does sometimes happen in bankruptcy reorganizations that similarly situated creditors are treated differently. This is so despite the fact that the Bankruptcy Code aspires to similar treatment of similarly situated creditors. Every plan of reorganization is different. Taken as a whole the Rede Energia case stands for the idea that the principles of res judicata, due process, and fairness are universal and will be given international application in Chapter 15 cross-border insolvency cases.

Phillips & Thomas is one of the few firms in the metro area that has been involved in a Chapter 15 international insolvency proceeding.  Our managing partner George Thomas speaks Portuguese and travels to Brazil frequently.

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