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The U.S. Internal Revenue Service on Tuesday sued the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, asking a judge to determine how much the FDIC must pay to cover an estimated $1.45 billion tax debt owed by the failed Silicon Valley Bank, Reuters reported. The FDIC, which seized SVB and its assets in March 2023, has denied the entire tax claim, according to a complaint filed in federal court in Washington. The IRS said the court should overrule the FDIC's decision to deny the tax claim, and make a new determination on the validity and amount of taxes owed. The FDIC is acting as a receiver for the bank, gathering the bank's assets and using them to repay SVB's creditors. The IRS said that its initial $1.45 billion claim was an estimated total for taxes due between 2020 and 2023, and that it was still reviewing SVB's tax returns when it filed the claim. The IRS later learned that some of the employment taxes included in its claim have already been paid. The IRS and the FDIC did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the dispute. Santa Clara, California-based SVB became one of the largest bank failures in U.S. history when it collapsed on March 10, sending shockwaves through the regional banking industry in the U.S. and disrupting many tech startups that housed their cash at the bank. The FDIC has also been sued by SVB Financial, SVB's former parent company, over its seizure of $1.93 billion in cash during its takeover of the bank.

Apparel retailer Express is preparing for a debt restructuring that could include filing for bankruptcy within weeks, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The Ohio-based retailer known for its affordable office wear has hired restructuring adviser M3 and law firm Kirkland & Ellis to consider how to restructure nearly $280 million of debt amid declining sales. Publicly traded Express is still trying to avoid filing for bankruptcy by restructuring debt outside of chapter 11, the people said. Whether that is successful will depend on its lenders agreeing to provide more liquidity or loosening repayment options. Express’s ability to avoid bankruptcy also hinges on whether vendors are willing to keep shipping goods without tightening payment schedules. Express shares fell 12% to close at $3.75 on Monday after the news of a possible bankruptcy filing. The shares were down 23% to $2.90 in after-hours trading, and are down about 98% since August 2021. Express, which operates more than 600 retail and outlet stores, has said the business has struggled because of higher interest rates, slower store traffic, lower consumer spending and increasing competition from other retailers selling similar clothing at a deep discount. Its inventory also isn’t in line with what customers demand, the company has said.

The judge overseeing the bankruptcy of Puerto Rico’s Electric Power Authority is keeping a planned March 4 confirmation hearing, denying a request from some creditors to postpone a discussion of the utility’s debt-cutting plan on that date, Bloomberg News reported. Bond insurance companies and certain investors of the electric utility’s nearly $9 billion of debt sought to delay the March confirmation hearings until the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit determined whether bondholders have a secured claim to the agency’s future revenue collections. U.S. District Court Judge Laura Taylor Swain Monday rejected that request. Prepa, as the utility is known, has been in bankruptcy since July 2017 and Swain has expressed eagerness to resolve a case that’s already been held up by natural disasters, the pandemic and the commonwealth’s own bankruptcy process. “What movants propose will likely leave the debtor, the commonwealth, and the people of Puerto Rico in a further prolonged state of uncertainty and impede progress toward renewal of the critical service infrastructure necessary to Puerto Rico’s return to the capital markets,” Swain wrote in her decision. Assured Guaranty Corp., Syncora Guarantee, GoldenTree Asset Management and an ad hoc group of bondholders were seeking to delay the March 4 hearing. Prepa’s debt plan would slash $10 billion of claims by 75%. It has the support of BlackRock Financial Management and Nuveen Asset Management.

A filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the district of Nevada on February 9 shows that Career College of Northern Nevada filed for bankruptcy on the day it unexpectedly closed. Students who were enrolled at the institution or were on an approved leave of absence on the 9th, or who withdrew from a training program within 180 days of the 9th, may qualify for a Closed School Discharge. Students who paid tuition fees without using U.S. Department of Education Student Financial Aid should contact the Nevada Commission of Postsecondary Education to file for reimbursement through the state's Tuition Recovery Fund.

Bankrupt Brazilian airline Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA won court permission to investigate whether its rival Latam Airlines Group SA sought to take unfair advantage of its recent chapter 11 filing by improperly soliciting major Boeing Co. aircraft suppliers, Bloomberg News reported. Judge Martin Glenn said Monday there is merit in investigating allegations Latam tried to either poach or interfere with Boeing 737 aircraft lessors doing business with Gol after the Brazilian budget airline filed bankruptcy last month. Judge Glenn cited a letter Latam sent to aircraft lessors the day after Gol filed bankruptcy. A Latam lawyer said the Jan. 26 letter was the fist time in recent years the company had inquired about a type of narrowbody Boeing 737 aircraft flown by Gol. Latam has historically flown a fleet of Airbus aircraft, according to court documents. It would be “preposterous” to assume it was merely a coincidence Latam sent the letter immediately after Gol filed Chapter 11, Glenn said. In the letter, Latam said it was seeking more aircraft, which the airline said might be of interest to lessors “given the recent events in the industry.” Judge Glenn granted the Sao Paulo-based airline’s request to get documents and conduct depositions of Latam officials in order to gather evidence, should any exist, substantiating claims that Latam sought to interfere with Gol’s business or violate its chapter 11 stay, which protects companies in bankruptcy. Latam has denied the allegations and argued Gol is seeking such information to gain an unfair edge on its rival.

Bankrupt coworking-space provider WeWork said it owes 160 landlords no rents for the month of November, according to a court filing, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The company said in a Wednesday bankruptcy court filing that those landlords who disagree with the listed amount of the so-called stub rent “must first engage in a good-faith attempt to resolve such disagreement with [WeWork] before filing their proof of claim.” WeWork filed for bankruptcy on Nov. 6 after struggling with a downturn in the office market. Unless the company rejected the leases as of that date, it owes its landlords the stub rent from the petition date to the end of November, according to bankruptcy code and case law in the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. That circuit covers the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of New Jersey that handles WeWork’s bankruptcy case. The filing came as a surprise for those landlords listed in the document along with the amount zero.

Regional broadcast agreements for the Cleveland Guardians, Minnesota Twins and Texas Rangers for the upcoming season were approved by a federal bankruptcy judge on Friday, the Associated Press reported. Diamond Sports Group reached amended agreements with the three teams last week. All three deals expire at the end of the 2024 season. Diamond Sports has been in chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings in the Southern District of Texas since it filed for protection last March. The company said in a late 2021 financial filing that it had debt of $8.67 billion. It reached a restructuring agreement with creditors last month that is still going through hearings. Diamond owns 18 networks under the Bally Sports banner. Those networks have the rights to 37 professional teams — 11 baseball, 15 NBA and 11 NHL. The Twins’ agreement with Diamond expired at the end of last season. The deals with the Guardians and defending World Series champion Rangers were restructured for less money. The deals with the three teams leave the Arizona Diamondbacks and San Diego Padres as the only teams whose games will be produced by Major League Baseball for 2024.

Seattle-based research device company NanoString Technologies Inc. has secured $47.5 million in debtor-in-possession financing following its Feb. 4 announcement that it has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in federal court in Delaware, the Puget Sound Business Journal reported. The company's debtor-in-possession financing includes $12.5 million that has already been approved by the bankruptcy court, while an addition $35 million still needs final approval, expected in late February. The amount is up from an initial $40 million commitment announced early last week, and is being provided by the company's existing lenders. "With this financing, we will continue to conduct business as usual," NanoString CEO Brad Gray said in the release. "We are concurrently exploring several strategic options with the goal of assuring the long-term continuation of our mission, on behalf of all NanoString stakeholders including our customers and employees.” NanoString has filed for bankruptcy after being hammered by legal battles with competitor 10x Genomics Inc. over patent claims. When NanoString announced the bankruptcy filings, it said in a news release that it was considering options such as selling the company or certain product lines.

About a year and half ago, a small San Antonio pharmacy found itself in Bexar County’s crosshairs, targeted because of the huge amount of pain pills it dispensed. A lawyer for the county dubbed it a “pill mill.” So Trinity Pharmacies LLC was added to a 2018 lawsuit targeting drug manufacturers, a distributor and various retailers that officials said were fueling the opioid addiction crisis sweeping the San Antonio area. The litigation — in which Trinity is charged alongside retail giants such as CVS, Walgreens and Walmart — became too costly for Trinity. So, on Feb. 4, it sought chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the San Antonio Express-News reported. “It can’t, your honor, sustain the litigation costs,” Trinity lawyer H. Anthony Hervol told Chief U.S. Bankruptcy Court Craig Gargotta during a hearing Wednesday. The pharmacy has racked up more than $40,000 in legal fees defending itself in the massive multi-district litigation that’s unfolding in Harris County District Court. The bankruptcy puts the county’s lawsuit against Trinity on hold. But the filing under a subchapter of the bankruptcy code designed for small-business debtors is part of a larger legal strategy its owners hope will eventually do away with the causes of action against it. The county's claims against Trinity and other retailers include: negligent and/or intentional creation of a public nuisance; common law fraud; and civil conspiracy. The county seeks to recover from defendants its costs associated with the opioid epidemic and punitive damages.

Lawyers representing a group of sex-abuse victims with claims against the Boy Scouts of America are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to pause payments to survivors from a $2.4 billion settlement fund created as part of the youth organization’s bankruptcy plan, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The lawyers, who represent a fraction of over 82,000 Boy Scouts sex-abuse plaintiffs, argued that since a central feature of the youth organization’s settlement is being litigated in the U.S. Supreme Court in the challenge to Purdue Pharma’s similar bankruptcy plan, the Boy Scouts plan should be suspended until the high court reaches a decision in the opioid maker’s case, according to court papers filed on Wednesday. Federal courts last October rejected earlier efforts by the same lawyers to suspend the Boy Scouts bankruptcy plan. U.S. District Judge Richard Andrews in Wilmington, Del., said then that unlike Purdue’s bankruptcy plan, the youth group’s reorganization had already gone into effect and many of the transactions it contemplated had already happened. The Supreme Court is set to examine on an expedited basis the issue of legal immunity granted in the Purdue reorganization plans that is also a key feature in the Boy Scouts settlement: whether bankruptcy courts can extinguish legal claims against third parties that aren’t in chapter 11 without the consent of all claimants.