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A U.S. judge has agreed to halt U.S. creditor lawsuits against Abengoa SA, an international renewable energy company that has been waging a multi-layer battle for more than a year to avoid becoming Spain's largest ever corporate failure, Reuters reported yesterday. A ruling on a more contentious dispute involving the Seville-based company's bankrupt U.S. subsidiary and a failed power plant is still pending. The company put its U.S. subsidiaries in chapter 11 bankruptcy and filed for chapter 15 protection from creditors of non-U.S. businesses earlier this year while it thrashed out a $10 billion global debt restructuring deal in Spain. Last month Abengoa received shareholder and Spanish court approval for its high-stakes debt-for-equity deal, and on Thursday won backing for that plan and the halt to U.S. creditor lawsuits from the U.S. court in Delaware that is overseeing the U.S. bankruptcy proceedings. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Carey must still rule on a plan to enable Abengoa's main subsidiary, Abeinsa Holding Inc., a construction and engineering business, to emerge from chapter 11.

A U.S. subsidiary of Spanish renewable energy firm Abengoa SA pressed a judge yesterday to approve its plan to exit bankruptcy over objections from a holdout creditor, who said that the plan violated U.S. law by favoring the company's foreign parent, Reuters reported. After more than three hours of testimony and arguments, Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Carey in Wilmington, Del., said he wanted additional written submissions from the parties. He did not say when he would rule. Abeinsa Holding Inc is one of dozens of global Abengoa subsidiaries that filed for chapter 11 and 15 bankruptcy this year while their Seville-based parent thrashed out a debt restructuring deal in Spain to avoid its own bankruptcy. The U.S. subsidiaries, which range from small ethanol plants to construction and engineering firms like Abeinsa, were guarantors of $10 billion of debt held by the parent.

A leading U.S. subsidiary of Abengoa SA heads to court today to seek approval for a bankruptcy exit plan that opponents argue violates the law by prioritizing the Spanish parent and its international backers ahead of U.S. creditors, Reuters reported yesterday. Abeinsa Holding Inc. is one of dozens of global Abengoa subsidiaries that filed for U.S. chapter 11 and 15 bankruptcy this year while their Seville-based renewable energy parent thrashed out a debt restructuring deal in Spain to avoid its own bankruptcy. The U.S. subsidiaries, which range from small ethanol plants to construction and engineering firms like Abeinsa, were guarantors of $10 billion of debt held by the parent, creating one of the most complex cross-border restructurings of the past decade. A Spanish court approved Abengoa's restructuring agreement last month, giving a group of lenders including Spain's Santander equity in exchange for debt. Now the company needs a U.S. court to approve the plan and repayment terms for creditors of the U.S. subsidiaries. To win U.S. creditor support, Abengoa has proposed investing over $30 million cash in exchange for retaining full control of the U.S. units, allowing the Spanish company to maintain its position in one of its most important markets. Read more.

Cover all aspects of the UNCITRAL Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency as well as chapter 15 of the Bankruptcy Code with ABI’s Chapter 15 for Foreign Debtors. 

A Hanjin Shipping attorney told a federal court last Tuesday that it has virtually no assets in the U.S. to compensate several retailers, logistics providers, insurance companies and other claimants who fear the loss of claim rights if the court recognizes the carriers’ South Korean bankruptcy case, JOC.com reported on Wednesday. The claimants, in papers filed in U.S. District Bankruptcy court in New Jersey fear that their rights will be impaired, or lost if the court approves Hanjin’s request for Chapter 15 status. Approval would mean U.S. bankruptcy courts recognize the Korean bankruptcy proceeding, enabling the carrier to take certain actions in the U.S. to assist the case overseas. But a hearing on Nov. 22, which was scheduled to hear the case, was adjourned after Hanjin attorneys said eight objections had been filed, more than expected, and they needed additional time to prepare for them. The objections will now be heard Dec. 13. Read more. (Subscription required.) 

Cover all aspects of the UNCITRAL Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency as well as chapter 15 of the Bankruptcy Code with ABI’s Chapter 15 for Foreign Debtors. 

More wreckage from Anguilla’s offshore banking troubles has washed up in a U.S. bankruptcy court, with the filing of a chapter 11 proceeding for Caribbean Commercial Investment Bank Ltd., the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday. Tuesday’s chapter 11 filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York came from William Tacon, a court-appointed administrator of the Anguillan bank. Earlier this year Tacon also placed the offshore private bank and trust operation owned by the failed National Bank of Anguilla under bankruptcy protection in New York. Much of the legal action is taking place in Anguilla, where the fate of the homegrown banking system is a matter of great public interest. The money, however, is in New York, Tacon says, and that is why he’s using the investigatory powers of U.S. bankruptcy. In both bankruptcy proceedings, Tacon has taken issue with the handling of the troubled banks by local regulators. He is seeking U.S. court aid in tracking and reclaiming funds he says belong to depositors.

Spanish renewable energy and engineering firm Abengoa SA has asked a U.S. bankruptcy court to enjoin legal action and future claims by creditors who are unsatisfied with a high-stakes plan to restructure $10 billion of debt, Reuters reported yesterday. Abengoa, a Sevilla-based company with a global renewable energy footprint, put its U.S. subsidiaries in chapter 11 protection this year and filed for chapter 15 protection from creditors of non-U.S. businesses while it thrashed out a refinancing deal to avoid becoming Spain's largest-ever corporate failure. Last month the vast majority of Abengoa's international creditors signed on to its so-called master restructuring agreement, which will give creditors equity in exchange for debt. The deal was approved by a Spanish court on Nov. 8.

Bauer Hockey and Easton Baseball will need two bankruptcy judges, one in Canada and one in the U.S., to referee a fight among shareholders over how the sporting goods makers should be sold at a court-ordered auction, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. The companies, makers of skates, bats and other equipment used by pros and amateurs, are owned by Performance Sports Group Ltd., whose shareholders can’t agree on how to organize a sale. Lawyers will appear before judges in Toronto and Wilmington, Delaware, on Nov. 30 in a video-linked court hearing to sort out auction procedures. Performance and the Bauer and Easton units filed for creditor protection in the U.S. and Canada last month because the companies have assets in both countries. In a phone conference on Wednesday, the judges said that they were concerned Exeter, N.H.-based Performance Sports wasn’t giving them enough time to rule. Under deadlines imposed by the company’s lenders and the lead bidder for its assets, auction rules must be approved by Nov. 30. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Carey told his Canadian counterpart, Ontario Superior Court Judge Frank Newbould, that he expects them to “have an opportunity to consult with each other privately so hopefully we can come to consistent rulings.”

Belize is in talks to restructure $530 million of bonds, citing serious economic and financial challenges facing the country, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. The Central American nation announced plans last Wednesday and urged bondholders to form a committee before the end of November, ahead of a semiannual coupon payment due in February. The Belize announcement follows on the heels of a similar plea by Africa’s Mozambique, where bondholders are resisting the restructuring, which would be their second in a year. This month, London-based brokerage Exotix downgraded Mozambique and Belize to sell, saying that each have upcoming bond payments and that one or both could default. Belize’s GDP growth slowed to 1 percent in 2015 due to falling production from various commodity sectors, including oil, and with a currency pegged to the dollar, the country has struggled to remain competitive against other commodity exporters in emerging markets, the IMF said following a review of the country in September.