No CLE

This panel will consider the robustness of financial models and valuation techniques in assessing the value of financially distressed businesses vis-à-vis the market for debt and equity securities of such businesses. Market efficiency/accuracy will also be considered, as well as the circumstances that might warrant abandoning the values determined by the market in favor of a model-driven value estimate.

This session will outline methods of developing meaningful and timely revenue and cash flow forecasts for financially distressed businesses, including considerations that management takes into account in developing its forecast, commentary on relevant case law concerning such matters, and factors that could be considered by interested third parties and practitioners regarding the reasonableness of such projections, such as modeling techniques.

A panel of younger lawyers and financial professionals will talk about the issues and challenges of working for senior lawyers and will suggest ways to improve the working relationships between senior and junior lawyers.

Cross-border financings almost always lie at the heart of cross-border insolvency cases, and holding an enforceable lien usually spells the difference between recovery and loss in such cases. This panel will focus on creating, perfecting and enforcing liens on assets held by Caribbean borrowers, as well as on the 2010 amendments to Article 9 of the U.S. Uniform Commercial Code that became effective in July. Topics will include UNCITRAL’s legislative guide on secured transactions, the Organization of American States’ Model Inter-American Law on Secured Transactions, competing forums for resolving disputes over liens on Caribbean assets, Article 9’s choice-of-law rules, and financing concepts peculiar to common law countries in the Caribbean (e.g., the distinction between fixed and floating charges and crystallization).

How do different constituencies “play” the same valuation issue? This panel will explore how and why valuation is an art and not a science in chapter 11, and will take on the challenge of debating whether or not this should trouble us as bankruptcy professionals and investors.

This panel will discuss the assessment of a subject company and its situation, the nature of the assets in the distressed situation (i.e., company-specific or endemic of the industry), and other considerations for valuing companies in distress.

This panel will take a look at developments in legal standards for determining the whole enterprise valuation, and their impact on valuation methodology. What drives the market definition and its underlying policy? When is the market likely to be wrong (and how do you show when not to trust the market)? How reliable is a “robust auction,” and why might the outcome differ from an expert valuation? When is an expert valuation likely to be suspect? The status of the “new value doctrine” and related valuation issues will also be discussed.

This panel will discuss how to examine and cross-examine an expert witness and respond to judges. Through a fact pattern/role-playing approach, the panel will cover issues related to valuation and plan confirmation.