While the regional bank failures in March 2023 are behind us, fiduciaries engaged in corporate insolvency matters continue to encounter challenges in securing FDIC-insured deposits on behalf of their clients. As the U.S. economic landscape remains uncertain under a new presidential administration and the fragility of the commercial real estate market may put regional banks at risk, the challenges that these fiduciaries face are likely to persist. Whether as a U.S. bankruptcy trustee, receiver, an assignee, the fiduciary’s duty to conserve and protect the estate and assets of clients can be difficult in the current environment where fewer banks and financial institutions are providing surety bonds and FDIC insurance for large deposits. This session will provide an overview of these issues and how professionals can navigate them in their fiduciary roles.
Participants will gain a better understanding of their fiduciary duties and how best to search and secure FDIC-insured deposits on behalf of their clients.
Other
Suggested Speakers
In high profile restructurings, managing public perception and crafting a go-forward narrative matters. This session explores how strategic communications play a critical role in mitigating reputational damage and preserving brand and estate value throughout the restructuring process, including positioning the company for success upon emergence.
We will explore the importance of:
- Developing a comprehensive communication strategy to address various stakeholders (employees, partners, media, etc.) and preserve enterprise value
- Being prepared to implement aspects of the strategy even before filing (given propensity for leaks) and during key moments of the process through emergence
- Communicating effectively to promote business objectives, shape public perception, support legal strategies, and stabilize key stakeholder relationships
- Proactively (and reactively) addressing misinformation, media inquiries and stakeholder concerns to protect the brand and franchise
- Learning from real-world examples of communication efforts in major bankruptcies
Participants will be able to understand:
- The role strategic communications play in preserving value of the brand and business, including keeping internal and external parties apprised and on side
- The importance of crafting clear, forthright, consistent and timely messaging
- The ways in which strategic communications can significantly influence the outcome of a restructuring process
This session will introduce participants to the very hiogh likelihood that digital assets could be a part of a bankruptcy estate given the rapid growth in the use of digital assets to transact business and in the number of people in the United States that own digital assets. Participants will be made aware of the resources, tools, and professional services available to locate, track, quantify, value and recover digital assets for the bankruptcy estate.
1. Participants will gain a working understanding of blockchain technology, cryptocurrencies and other digital assets and their rapid adoption by individuals and businesses.
2. Participants will learn to identify signs that a party may possess digital assets and will be familiar with the resources available to aid in discovering and identifying digital asset ownership.
3. Participants will learn about the techniques and tools available to trace and recover digital asset transactions.
4. Participants will learn the basic issues and challenges in valuing digital assets.
Creditor
Discussion on the developments of Venezuela's indefinitely postponed external debt restructuring process and the individual execution efforts over the country’s most valuable assets in the US—CITGO’s network of downstream assets—in the context of the Crystallex litigation in Delaware. The session would highlight the tension between “first come / first served” principles guiding the current stream of individual enforcement / execution, and the creditor coordination features of a pure insolvency proceeding.
The session will provide clarity on the status of the ongoing melee of court cases going after Venezuela's assets abroad, in the zoom-out context of the prospects for a broad, all-encompassing, debt restructuring process
Creditor
Suggested Speakers
Roland
Pettersson
rpettersson@dra.com.ve
Suzzanne
Uhland
Suzzanne.Uhland@lw.com
Richard
Levin
RLevin@jenner.com
Hans
Humes
HHumes@greylockcapital.com
Roland
Pettersson
rpettersson@dra.com.ve
D'Empaire
The prevalence of liability management exercises (LMEs) continues to grow as companies seek creative solutions to manage unsustainable capital structures. Majority creditor groups have a long list of options to choose from in order to put themselves in front of minority creditors – priming, uptiering, covenant stripping, drop-down transactions and more. But the track record for so-called lender-on-lender violence has been patchy at best, often serving as a precursor to bankruptcy, rather than a way to avert it.
Potential discussion points:
1) What are some key takeaways from recent litigation, and what could have been done differently?
2) How can minority/nonparticipating lenders best protect themselves via creditor cooperation agreements?
3) What are the implications of these transactions on valuations?
4) How have these transactions evolved, and what does the future of lender-on-lender violence hold?
Attendees will gain an understanding of the current and future state of liability management exercises, including insights on litigation trends and updates on several recent key appeals.
Attendees will also learn about strategic approaches for creditors to effectively navigate these challenges and how lawyers can stay on top of these issues for their clients.
The session will provide projections for the distressed debt landscape in the upcoming year, equipping participants with knowledge to forecast opportunities that may arise.
Debtor
This session will discuss bankruptcy issues that arise in connection with financing structures common at various stages in the growth of life sciences company, including early stage venture lending , drug development lending, royalty monetizations, and synthetic royalties/revenue interest financings and other hybrid finance structures. Bankruptcy issues include treatment of rights in IP and licensed IP as collateral and under royalty sale structures; executory contract issues with respect to material contracts related to recovery of value of financing (e.g., supply contracts for manufacture of drug); secured or unsecured status under synthetic and hybrid structures; and structuring deals to mitigate bankruptcy.
Recent cases will be discussed to illustrate the features of common structures and treatment of bankruptcy risks and issues by courts (cases include PhaseBio, Mallinckrodt and Clovis).
Participants will understand the general features of these life sciences financing structures, the bankruptcy risks involved, how to avoid or mitigate risk in the structures prebankruptcy, and likely outcomes in the event of a challenge to the structure in bankruptcy. Target audience is life sciences companies and their lenders.
Creditor
Describing the nature of the loans, how they are marketed and the scope of their usage in the marketplace. Addressing legal strategies on how to debtor's and other creditors can use the bankruptcy process to curb the abuses of these lenders.
Debtor
Suggested Speakers
Scott
Williams
swilliams@rumberger.com
Scott
Williams
swilliams@rumberger.com
RumbergerKirk
Because bankruptcy attorneys are being asked to find non-bankruptcy solutions more and more, to avoid the expense of full-blown bankruptcy, I would love to develop competencies in areas just adjacent to our normal practice area.
Article 9 sales are one area that are so close. I would love to know more.
From understanding the goals of private equity/private finance to understanding the nuts and bolts of service requirements, potential litigation tactics that may come in to play after the fact with creditors, to traps for the unwary, I think there is a lot to cover here.
Business
Jennifer
McLemore
jmclemore@williamsmullen.com
Williams Mullen
Coverage of :
How the Federal Reserve Really Controls Interest Rates - Post Great Recession - the game has dramatically changed and most of us didn't notice. https://www.stlouisfed.org/open-vault/2020/august/how-does-fed-influence-interest-rates-using-new-tools
How come we have both the OCC and the FDIC, and what's the difference?
Where does the "Insurance Money" Come From when a bank fails? It is really set aside like an insurance company, or did Congress swipe the money like they did the Social Security funds? Did SVB really shift deposit insurance to an unlimited amount?
What risks does the new Too Big to Fail Policy present for the U.S. Government, the taxpayers, and would a failed mega bank like Bank of America trigger a recession?
What is the new CERL testing and why should I care? Will this change the way banks manage their workouts?
Are credit unions as safe as regular banks?
Valuation of assets, machinery and equipment, is an important part of the bankruptcy process. Monetization of assets, securing of creditor rights depends on accurate valuation of assets, and this session will detail how to find, retain, and manage outside appraisers to properly value the assets.
Learn how to effectively and efficiently manage the valuation/appraisal process to maximize recoveries and provide accurate asset valuation.
Creditor
Suggested Speakers
Christopher
Nugent
chris.nugent@bcamasset.com
Christopher
Nugent
chris.nugent@bcamasset.com
Bluechip Asset Management
