2023

This panel will discuss the latest updates on cross-border fraud issues, including the cross-border interplay between the SEC and U.S. state receiverships, domestic litigation, and liquidations in the Cayman Islands. The panelists will highlight the SEC v. TCA Fund case, which involved a huge fraud committed on investors in a master feeder structure, the issues surrounding the Florida receiver’s motion to approve a distribution plan in that case, and the conflict with Cayman law that, if applied, would produce a drastically different result than the plan proposed by the receiver.

This panel will focus on the ethical risks involved in serving as local counsel, special counsel and conflicts counsel. The panelists will discuss the role of the court in monitoring and reviewing the scope and responsibilities of counsel in each of these roles, and will discuss relevant case law impacting an attorneys’ ethical obligations, both to clients and to the court.

This panel will address recent decisions, including Modern Land, affecting the standard for recognition of a foreign insolvency proceeding as either a foreign main or nonmain proceeding. Additionally, the panelists will discuss recent decisions concerning third-party releases in chapter 15 cases, including In re PT Pan Brothers Tbk, Case No. 22-10136-mg (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. 2022).

Sponsored by ABI's Diversity & Inclusion Working Group

For all the efforts around interrupting bias and diversifying the legal profession, recent data shows that diversity continues to be a problem area in the insolvency industry. While the road to a more equitable legal profession is a long one, there are practical tools and best practices that individuals and organizations can utilize today to not only increase diversity among their attorney ranks, but also cultivate a culture of belonging within their spaces.

The first half of 2022 set a First Day record for fewest chapter 11 filings over any calendar six-month period, but chapter 11s picked up in the second half of the year, with Q4 concluding as the year’s busiest quarter and December closing out as the year's busiest month. Ignoring real estate cases, which peaked in 2021, the frequency of chapter 11 cases fell by only 1% in 2022. Despite the waning of COVID-19, companies continue to cite the pandemic as at least part of the reason for their bankruptcy filings.