An exploration of the strange world of bankruptcy -- the types of individuals and companies that become bankrupts, and the people who make their living from them, including auctioneers, lawyers, accountants, and collection men. This book takes you behind the scenes to where the deals are made, showing the gimmicks used and the fees collected. Find out the danger signals that give advance notice of a bankruptcy in the making, and learn how to cut through public relations semantics to determine whether a company really is in distress.

Foreword by Rt. Hon Mary Arden,D.B.E. The purpose of this new work is to provide an in-depth analysis of circumstances giving rise to the disqualification and personal liability of directors of insolvent companies. By way of introduction, the book commences by considering the legal indentification of a company director and the general corporate responsibilities and duties expected from a director of an insolvent company. Following the introduction, the first part of the work is devoted to an examination of the statutory provisions which may potentially render a director to be made personally liable to contribute to the debts and liabilities of an insolvent company. Accordingly, Part I of this book considers the law governing misfeasance proceedings, fraudulent trading, wrongful trading, phoenix companies and the misuse of corporate names under section 349(4) of the Companies Act 1985. Part II of the book involves an examination of the disqualification process under the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986. The ability and powers of the courts to impose disqualification orders have generated an abundance of case law. Part II commences with a general analysis of the disqualification process before moving on to specifically concentrate its attention on section 6 of the Act, namely the disqualification of directors for unfit conduct. The final chapter of the work involves an analysis of the procedural aspects of the disqualification process. Table of Contents Part I - Personal Liability of Company Directors Chapter 1 - Introduction Chapter 2 - Misfeasance Proceedings Chapter 3 - Fraudulent Trading Chapter 4 - Wrongful Trading Chapter 5 - The Phoenix Syndrome Chapter 6 - Section 349(4) of the Companies Act 1985 Part II - Disqualification of Company Directors Chapter 7 - The Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986 Chapter 8 - Disqualification for Unfit Conduct in the Management of an Insolvent Company (section 6, CDDA 1986) Chapter 9 - Procedural and Evidential Matters Pertinent to the CDDA 1986

Maximize your bankruptcy filing benefits. If you have to file a personal bankruptcy case, you can find the accessible, authoritative guidance you’ll need to do it right in order to get the fresh start you deserve. One of America’s top bankruptcy lawyers, Henry J. Sommer, clearly and carefully takes you through the process of filing under chapter 7 and chapter 13…helps you determine which course is better…alerts you to the legal protections you enjoy under the sweeping Bankruptcy Code…assists you in getting the right legal counsel…and helps remove concern about the stigma associated with bankruptcy. This plain-English version of Sommer’s definitive manual, Consumer Bankruptcy Law and Practice, provides you with a lucid overview of how bankruptcy works, then helps you:

• Determine if bankruptcy is finally the best path for you to take
• Select an alternative means of financial restoration if it is not
• Understand the myriad forms involved when filing
• Prepare for the sometimes complex proceedings once the paperwork is done
• Effectively use such "shields" as automatic stays and exemption provisions
• Capitalize on the many advantages of using bankruptcy court as a forum
• Work more wisely with your attorney—and much, much more!

Along the way, Consumer Bankruptcy dispels many of the tired myths surrounding bankruptcy, highlights many of its hidden advantages, assists you in devising a workable fee arrangement with your lawyer, and even alerts you to the rights you have as a creditor if you choose to make a claim against a business in bankruptcy.

Until recent years, formal bank insolvency proceedings were rare occurrences, with governments more often than not coming to the rescue of failing banks. As a result, few studies relating to bank failure have paid much attention to the regulatory framework for failing banks and the conduct of formal bank insolvency proceedings. However, in the aftermath of the Asian financial crisis, more attention has been focused on issues of bank insolvency. Structural reforms in the banking sector of various Asian countries, in particular the implementation of effective exit rules to expel insolvent and non-viable banks from the market, have been considered of primary importance to restoring confidence in the troubled banking sector. In addition, the ability of governments within the European Union to rescue insolvent banks has been significantly limited by strict rules on competition, suggesting that failing banks will become increasingly subject to insolvency proceedings. This text compares the legal framework for dealing with insolvent banks in Western Europe, the United States and Canada, identifying the distinctive features of each regime and discussing the main issues and choices in dealing with failing banks. It also examines the implications of a cross-border bank insolvency, and considers different approaches to the problems it raises, including the supranational approach of the proposed European Directive on the Reorganization and Winding-up of Credit Institutions. This work should be of value to lawmakers, to consultants and scholars engaged in technical assistance work, and to those who advise the legislators and officials involved in devising a legal framework for bank insolvency. It should also be of interest to practitioners and in-house counsel working in the field of banking and corporate law.

Bankruptcy in America, in stark contrast to its status in most other countries, typically signifies not a debtor's last gasp but an opportunity to catch one's breath and recoup. Why has the nation's legal system evolved to allow both corporate and individual debtors greater control over their fate than imaginable elsewhere? Masterfully probing the political dynamics behind this question, David Skeel here provides the first complete account of the remarkable journey American bankruptcy law has taken from its beginnings in 1800, when Congress lifted the country's first bankruptcy code right out of English law, to the present day.

Skeel shows that the confluence of three forces that emerged over many years--an organized creditor lobby, pro-debtor ideological currents, and an increasingly powerful bankruptcy bar--explains the distinctive contours of American bankruptcy law. Their interplay, he argues in clear, inviting prose, has seen efforts to legislate bankruptcy become a compelling battle royale between bankers and lawyers--one in which the bankers recently seem to have gained the upper hand. Skeel demonstrates, for example, that a fiercely divided bankruptcy commission and the 1994 Republican takeover of Congress have yielded the recent, ideologically charged battles over consumer bankruptcy.

The uniqueness of American bankruptcy has often been noted, but it has never been explained. As different as twenty-first century America is from the horse-and-buggy era origins of our bankruptcy laws, Skeel shows that the same political factors continue to shape our unique response to financial distress.

Benefits for retired employees are of particular interest to policymakers, who often are concerned with the income security of retirees, a large and fast-growing population. One aspect of this congressional concern is what happens when bankrupt employers are unable to provide promised pension and health benefits to their retired employees. This book explores the protections of benefits awarded retirees and future retirees of bankrupt private-sector employers under current law. Although there are many types of employee benefits, active employees, retirees, and the employers themselves are often especially concerned with postretirement pensions and health insurance benefits, usually the two largest components of these so-called legacy costs. This book also provides an overview of the status of employee wages and benefits, including retiree benefits, when an employer files in bankruptcy, and the amendments made to the U.S. Bankruptcy Code by the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act; provides background on Delphi Corporation, relevant pension law, the role of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), a description of major events at Delphi since 1999, and a listing of congressional hearings and legislation introduced related to the Delphi Corporation since the 111th Congress.

This book deals with the procedure for obtaining a winding-up order chronologically from presentation of a petition through to making the order. It also looks at the application process as it applies to various classes of petitioner, such as creditors, contributories (shareholders) and public officials. The fourth edition is completely updated to cover new legislation and new procedures. It includes new coverage of the Insolvency (England and Wales) Rules 2016, which rewrote the procedural rules for applications to wind up companies. The book also covers Regulation (EU) 2015/848 on insolvency proceedings (recast) concerning amended rules applying to jurisdiction, as well as new provisions for housing and education administration. Though focused on the procedure in the courts of England and Wales, the work also considers the jurisprudence of the many Commonwealth jurisdictions which have adopted the English procedure. This work contains all there is to know about applying (petitioning) to have companies and similar entities wound up by the court, making it essential for all lawyers who make, or defend, such applications. Applications to Wind up Companies 4e Digital Pack includes a copy of the hardback and a digital version available on PC, Mac, Android devices, iPad or iPhone for quick and easy access wherever you are.

Bussel, Skeel and Harner's new Eleventh Edition of Bankruptcy features the full canon of bankruptcy law developed under the Bankruptcy Code as amended over the last forty years up to and including the Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019 and the CARES Act of 2020. Professors Bussel and Skeel are especially proud to have recruited Judge Harner to assist them in updating their materials as bankruptcy law becomes more relevant than ever in the wake of the pandemic of 2020 and its ensuing economic dislocations. Carefully selected principal cases, thoughtful notes, and well-constructed problems explicate current law and connect it with bankruptcy's rich history while engaging current scholarly and policy debates. Existing notes and problems have been refreshed and new authorities incorporated into new notes and problems as appropriate. Continuing reform efforts in the Code's sale and reorganization provisions (including the new Subchapter V applicable to small businesses) are discussed. Transnational materials reflect Chapter 15's coming of age and continuing developments in Europe and elsewhere addressing cooperative responses to evolving coordination challenges posed by insolvent multinational corporate groups and Brexit. Jurisdictional materials update the progress of the jurisdictional reset mandated by Stern v. Marshall. Current developments in executory contracts (Tempnology), avoiding powers (Merit Management and Tribune), and structured dismissals (Jevic) are all fully integrated into the Eleventh Edition even as the authors have endeavored to maintain the same manageable size and space limitations of earlier editions.

This sixth edition of the standard work on insolvency law uses an all-new format. In an attempt to highlight the system and the regulatory framework even more clearly, the volume is structured with a stronger focus on the individual players and the key subject matter. Following an introduction, part two concentrates on debtors, creditors, and receivers. Part three is dedicated to identifying and securing insolvency assets - the receiver's credo. The course taken by insolvency proceedings is explored succinctly in part four; then asset receivership in open proceedings is explained. A special section is now also included dealing with insolvency schemes, which are gaining in importance. The work is rounded out by numerous case studies including solutions plus schemata, ensuring that the handbook is a fast, efficient source of information.

In 1880 the federal Parliament of Canada repealed the Insolvent Act of 1875, leaving debtor-creditor matters to be regulated by the provinces. Almost forty years later, Parliament finally passed new bankruptcy legislation, recognizing that what was once considered a moral evil had become a commercial necessity. In Ruin and Redemption, Thomas GW Telfer analyses the ideas, interests, and institutions that shaped the evolution of Canadian bankruptcy law in this era. Examining the vigorous public debates over the idea of bankruptcy, Telfer argues that the law was shaped by conflict over the morality of release from debts and by the divergence of interests between local and distant creditors. Ruin and Redemption is the first full-length study of the origins of Canadian bankruptcy law, thus making it an important contribution to the study of Canada's commercial law.

This comprehensive text provides an exhaustive analysis and discussion of every aspect of bankruptcy law, including an overview of bankruptcy; invoking bankruptcy relief (with a very detailed explanation of the means test); the automatic stay; jurisdiction and procedure; property of the estate; trustee's avoiding powers; payment of claims; executory contracts and unexpired leases; exemptions; discharge; reorganization under Chapter 11; debt adjustments under Chapter 13; debt adjustments under Chapter 12; and cross-border cases under Chapter 15. The 2005 BAPCPA amendments and the extensive case law thereunder are explained and critiqued. All legislation through the spring of 2020 is discussed, including the 2019 SBRA and the 2020 CARES Act. All relevant Supreme Court cases through the 2020 Term are discussed in depth.

The Municipal Bankruptcy Nutshell is a valuable resource for municipal attorneys and officials, law students, and journalists covering chapter 9 cases. Chapter topics include the history of municipal bankruptcy legislation, constitutional challenges to such legislation, eligibility requirements for chapter 9 relief, requirements for plan confirmation, and post-confirmation matters. The Nutshell also examines the chapter 9 specific rules on the automatic stay, pledged special revenues, rejection of collective bargaining agreements, and the avoiding powers. The Appendices include citations to legislative materials, a table containing a state-by-state list of the statutes authorizing chapter 9 relief, and retention-of-jurisdiction language from the Detroit and Stockton plans.

The first two decades of the twenty-first century witnessed a series of large-scale sovereign defaults and debt restructurings, in which sovereigns struggled to negotiate with recalcitrant bondholders, particularly hedge funds. Also, the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 heralded a bleak financial outlook for many developing and emerging market countries, requiring sovereign debt restructuring in times of great macroeconomic uncertainty. Given the absence of a multilateral mechanism for sovereign debt restructuring equivalent to domestic corporate bankruptcy system, however, defaulted sovereigns often suffer from holdout litigation wrought by bondholders. This book proposes ways in which such legal actions could be regulated without the undue expense of bondholders' remedies by exploring the mechanism of balancing bondholder protection and respect for sovereign debt restructuring at various stages of litigation and arbitration proceedings.

Bankruptcy is a complicated subject that covers a lot of ground. Bankruptcy lawyers can be found on Main Street and Wall Street. This efficient and effective guide to Bankruptcy will help you see the big picture. The authors focus on explaining the key concepts or building blocks that apply in any type of bankruptcy case, and then help you see those concepts in action in cases under the different chapters of the Bankruptcy Code, in proceedings ranging from individual consumer debtors in Chapter 7 or 13 to Fortune 500 Corporations in Chapter 11. To make the learning process more bearable, the authors have also infused the book with humor. Each of the authors is a nationally-renowned law teacher who has practiced and taught Bankruptcy for many years. One of them is even a former bankruptcy judge. Based on that experience, in this book they have set forth understandable techniques for mastering the law governing bankruptcy law, procedure, and real-world practice (in an exceedingly attractive manner).