2016 Caribbean Insolvency Symposium

This panel will discuss the Puerto Rico health care crisis by providing an overview of the changes in the health care industry; the challenges confronting the health care system in bankruptcy cases, including maintaining value before and during the sale process, special considerations in health care asset sales, Medicare/Medicaid cost report and recoupment issues; and medical malpractice liabilities. Can a bankruptcy filing preserve Medicare and Medicaid provider agreements? The panel will also discuss the appointment of patient care ombudsmen in health care business cases and Medicare fraud.

This panel will discuss the latest cross-border insolvency decisions from U.S. and Caribbean courts.

The panel will discuss Puerto Rico’s present economic condition/situation, the sequence of events that have led to PR’s present economic crisis, what should/can be done to restructure PR’s debt, whether chapter 9 is an appropriate tool to restructure PR’s debt or a solution to its economic condition, and the legal issues that PR is likely to confront in light of its economic crisis.

This panel will conduct a mock oral argument at the conclusion of a confirmation hearing in an individual chapter 11 bankruptcy case. Issues unique to individuals who file chapter 11 will be explored by counsel for the debtor and an objecting creditor, as well as by the three-judge panel.

This program will address the ethical obligations and best practices to be used by bankruptcy professionals to protect client confidences and valuable estate property in the era of the data breach. The panel will review the rules governing the attorney/client privilege in U.S., The Caymans, and other jurisdictions, as well as the ethical obligations of professionals to secure client information in their possession to forestall the unwanted disclosure of such information due to a data breach.

This panel will discuss the intersection of cross-border insolvency proceedings, such as foreign receivership and/or liquidation proceedings, and U.S. bankruptcy proceedings through a case study of such recent cases as the Scrub Island Resort, Spa & Marina in the British Virgin Islands and the Baha Mar Casino & Hotel in the Bahamas. The panel will explore the issues that arise when these proceedings meet, the enforceability of orders emanating from each, the role that fiduciaries have therein, and the practical and legal differences, as well as advantages and disadvantages, between them.

This panel will address the legal and forensic issues arising from the newest iterations of this very old form of fraud, including recent cases in the Caribbean involving “reverse merger” schemes. Panelists include the fiduciaries appointed in the wind-up of the Telex Free and Peters Ponzi schemes, two of the larges schemes in history and both with deep connections to the Caribbean.

Puerto Rico judges will discuss attorneys’ fees in chapter 13 cases; summons, service of process, defaults and default judgments; the Puerto Rico homestead exemption law and recent decisions; and conducting evidentiary hearings (handling witnesses, documents and objections).

This panel will provide practical advice to attendees from the viewpoint of a chapter 7 trustee, an accountant and an attorney regarding completeness of schedules, how to properly prepare a debtor to face a chapter 7 trustee interrogation, and discussions on several administrative matters such as late-filed claims, asset-liquidation accounting and § 341 hearing continuances. The panel will also cover recent chapter 7 case law developments.