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Richards Kibbe & Orbe LLP partner Brian S. Fraser co-authored a Thomson Reuter's Aspatore Special Report entitled "The Emergence of State and Municipal Bankruptcies."  In the chapter "The Prospect of Municipal or State Defaults on Bond Obligations: Can Bankruptcy Help?"  Mr. Fraser observes...

Trading loans backed by commercial real estate may present an attractive investment for hands-on managers familiar with real estate collateral, but there are abundant traps for the unwary loan trader. In this memorandum, Richards Kibbe & Orbe LLP partners...

Since the beginning of the European financial crisis, Richards Kibbe & Orbe LLP has been working with counsel in Spain, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Portugal, among other jurisdictions, to ensure our trading clients receive the broad perspective and tailored guidance they require. This memorandum provides...

An article by Richards Kibbe & Orbe LLP partner Brian S. Fraser, entitled "Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board Notice Raises Questions Whether Certain Loans to Municipal Governments are Securities," was...

The LSTA's newly-released (effective September 9, 2011) Standard Terms and Conditions for Distressed Trade Confirmations contain a new and powerful set of provisions that, under certain circumstances, permit a party to terminate its obligations under an open trade confirmation for distressed bank loans if its counterparty fails to perform its settlement delivery obligations in a timely fashion.

A recent notice by the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board suggests the possibility that certain types of "loans" by banks to municipalities should be treated as securities under the federal securities laws. In this memorandum...

In this memorandum, Richards Kibbe & Orbe LLP attorney Neil S. Binder discusses a dispute currently pending in federal district court between Lehman and one of its...

"Lehman Strikes Again: European Loan Participations and Preference Risks," by Richards Kibbe & Orbe LLP partners Carl Winkworth and Joon P. Hong, was published in International Corporate Rescue magazine. In this article, Mr. Winkworth and Mr. Hong describe...

A number of recent and controversial decisions issued by prominent courts have changed the restructuring landscape for all constituents, most acutely for secured lenders.  Based on these decisions, we have...

A group of Lehman creditors holding large claims arising from terminated derivatives transactions filed a competing plan of reorganization in the Lehman bankruptcy proceedings. As a result, there are now three competing plans...

"Material Non-Public Information in the Secondary Loan Market after Dodd-Frank," authored by Richards Kibbe & Orbe LLP partners Jon Kibbe and Michael Mann was published in the LSTA 2011 Loan Market Chronicle. In the article, Mr. Kibbe and Mr. Mann (i) describe the current legal framework...

"A Loan Trader's Guide to Reorganization Equity," authored by Richards Kibbe & Orbe LLP partners Thao Do, Scott Budlong and Julia Lu, was published by Law360. In this article, Ms. Do, Mr. Budlong and Ms. Lu describe...

The trading rules and conventions of the loan market are well known to its participants. Similarly, the laws and practices governing equity securities trading are quite familiar to securities market professionals. The opportunity for confusion may arise, however, when these two...

In this memorandum, Richards Kibbe & Orbe LLP attorneys Michael Friedman and Keith N. Sambur discuss the decision of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in connection with the chapter 11 case of DBSD North America, Inc. ("DBSD"). The Second Circuit's opinion...

The rapid development of an international secondary market to buy and sell claims against the three largest failed banks in Iceland shows that global claims-trading frameworks are sufficiently developed to adapt to novel and unpredictable insolvency situations. In this memorandum...

The literature about the unintended consequences of Dodd-Frank continues to grow apace.  In this memorandum, Richards Kibbe & Orbe LLP partners Jon Kibbe and Julia Lu in New York and Carl Winkworth in London...

In the secondary bank loan market, the "elevation" of a loan that is beneficially owned by participation is generally a straightforward transaction whereby the grantor assigns the loan to the participant, resulting in the participant becoming the lender of record of the loan. Recent events in the Lehman bankruptcy proceedings raise questions about the effectiveness of elevations involving a standard form participation agreement used in Europe.

In recent months, a substantial number of assignments of syndicated bank loans have been thwarted because either the borrower or agent has refused to consent to such assignment. Such refusals have occurred, for instance, where a potential lender is a hedge fund or where a potential lender refuses to commit to a proposed restructuring. 

In our Distressed Investor Alert dated December 23, 2009, we wrote that Bankruptcy Rule 2019 had returned to the public eye with a vengeance in light of the controversial pending amendments to Rule 2019 proposed by the Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure of the Judicial Conference of the United States.   

Effective 25 January 2010, a revised set of Loan Market Association ("LMA") trading documentation will apply to all Par and Distressed Trades which are conducted on LMA standard terms. The revised documents apply to all LMA trades with Trade Dates of 25 January 2010 and going forwards.

In a case of great significance to the United States secondary loan market, on January 11, 2010, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit firmly established that the ancient doctrine of "champerty" – originally a prohibition on the transfer of litigation claims – has no further...

"Acquiring Companies in Bankruptcy" co-authored by Richards Kibbe & Orbe LLP partner Michael Friedman was published in the November/December 2009 issue of Executive Counsel magazine. This article discusses...

In a closely-watched case important to the debt trading market, New York’s highest court recently decided that New York’s champerty statute does not bar the assignment of litigation claims to enforce rights in related debt instruments. Partner Brian S. Fraser briefly...

New York's highest court is poised to decide whether litigation claims may be purchased and asserted by a debt holder or whether the arcane doctrine of champerty, as codified in New York by statute, may bar a debt holder from...

Memorandum to Clients and Friends of the Firm Regarding Recent Decision Entering Temporary Restraining Order Barring Secondary Market Purchasers of Loan Participations from Bringing Tort Claims Against Agent Bank Download Memorandum Download Order...