Two recent appellate decisions of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (the “district court”) have the potential for altering the jurisdictional landscape of bankruptcy courts in the United States. In In re Globo Comunicacoes e Participacoes S.A., 317 B.R. 235 (S.D.N.Y.
On June 2004, the Kingdom of Thailand enacted amendments to the Thai Bankruptcy Act2. The new amendments to the Act (the Amendments), which are codified in Bankruptcy Act (No. 7), B. E. 2547 (2004), came into effect on July 16, 2004—one day after publication in the Thai Government Gazette.
In the recent decision, In re Petition of Dr. Eberhard Braun, in his Capacity as Insolvency Administrator for Fairchild Dornier GmbH, Case No. 02-52351-LMC, the bankruptcy court denied a motion to reconsider a motion seeking relief from an 11 U.S.C. §304 injunction. The court denied the motion to reconsider because the motion presented evidence – for the first time – that could have and should have been presented at the initial hearing, but was not (a valuable lesson for all practitioners).
Introduction
The proposed Brazilian Bankruptcy law as proposed by the House of Representatives was extensively amended by the Senate. The Senate revisions are currently being considered in the House of Representatives, which has appointed a commission to recommend changes to the Senate version.
The following comments are based on some of the more important provisions that appear likely to be included in the final law. However, it is impossible to determine which provisions will actually be included in the law as ultimately adopted.
The EC Regulation1 on insolvency (Regulation) went into effect in May 2002 in all E.U. member states except for Denmark. The rules contained in the Regulation will have a significant impact on French practice in cross-border insolvency cases, especially in that the courts may have jurisdiction to open a main insolvency proceeding against a legal entity domiciled in the European Union.
The Department of Trade and Industry recently published statistics showing insolvencies in England and Wales in the fourth quarter of 2002. There were 4,323 company insolvencies in that period, an increase of 11.1 percent from the previous quarter and an increase of 14.9 percent compared to the same period a year ago. According to the Department, 1.1 percent of active companies became insolvent in the 12 months ending in the fourth quarter 2002, the same as in the previous quarter and the corresponding quarter in 2001.
Brazil Eletronet, a supplier of data transmission networks for telecommunications operators, has formally decided, in its last shareholders meeting, to file for bankruptcy protection. The decision was communicated to the CVM, the Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission, on April 28, 2003.
Co-chairman, Ian Williams, was pleased to introduce fellow Briton Terry Bond and The Honourable Mr. Justice James M. Farley of the Ontario Court of Justice, Toronto Region to a well attended meeting at ABI's Annual Spring Meeting on Saturday, April 19.
Brazilian Banking Law Consumer Defense Code for Bank Customers The Brazilian Central Bank (BACEN) has recently issued Resolution nº 2.878/01, which is already being called the "Consumer Defense Code for Banking Clients" (CDCB). In force since July 26, 2001, this Resolution, in short, rewrites in a more detailed manner and with added focus on the financial market, the rights already stated in Law nº 8.078/90 (Brazilian Consumer Defense Code CDC), related to transactions rendered to customers.
According to the Instituto Federal de Especialistas de Concursos Mercantiles's (“IFECOM”) Fifth Bi-annual Report presented on Dec. 3, 2002, only 63 cases have been filed in Mexico under the Ley de Concursos Mercantiles. These 63 cases involve 90 debtors: four individuals and 86 entities, approximately 55,500 creditors and NP$31,500 million in claims.