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In the past few months, we have seen once-prominent Brazilian companies face financial distress as a result of governmental mistakes, political unease, global decline in oil and gas prices and the downturn in the local credit markets. Most importantly, the Petrobras bribery and corruption scandal has had wide-ranging effects on Brazilian companies, from the criminal prosecution of corporate executives to open-ended prohibitions on future contracts with Petrobras and, in some instances, fines millions of reais. Fabio Vassel and Luis DeLucio will discuss how the current Brazilian economic and political landscape is likely to impact Brazilian companies, lenders and investors in the years to come.

This two-part panel will cover a potpourri of current hot topics being litigated in chapter 7 and 13 cases, with a special focus on LVNV v. Crawford and related litigation, consumer protection (including the basics of credit reporting and regulatory actions), mortgage modifications and post-discharge actions, and the UST’s enforcement activities.

This is the second part of a two-part panel that will cover a potpourri of current hot topics being litigated in chapter 7 and 13 cases, with a special focus on LVNV v. Crawford and related litigation, consumer protection (including the basics of credit reporting and regulatory actions), mortgage modifications and post-discharge actions, and the UST’s enforcement activities.

Domestic-support obligations, the impact of the automatic stay in domestic-relations cases, discharge litigation in chapter 13s, the retention of domestic-relations counsel in bankruptcy, same-sex spouses in bankruptcy cases in states where same-sex marriage is not recognized, and other “cheerful issues” frequently confronted in cases that involve both financial distress and domestic problems. This panel will provide an update on these and other important legal topics in this dark area of bankruptcy law.

This panel will feature a discussion with leading experts in the field of Latin American restructurings about the recent — and not-so-recent — updates to insolvency statutes throughout the region. While some of these new insolvency regimes remain largely untested, others offer both lessons and open questions about the potential for a true convergence of Latin American restructuring laws to other more established and tested jurisdictions. Market experts will discuss the latest developments in Latin American restructurings and offer their insights into the opportunities and challenges facing investors and lenders in the current Latin American economy.

Foreign representatives have begun using chapter 15 more creatively in seeking a broad array of relief; consequently, parties in the U.S. have increasingly been raising a number of challenges. In 2014, foreign representatives were presented with a number of objections to chapter 15 relief, including objections questioning the proper location of the foreign debtor’s center of main interests and the fairness of proceedings before the foreign court. This panel will discuss cases that address these issues, including In re Octaviar Admin. Pty Ltd., In re Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. and In re Rede Energia, S.A., and the steps the foreign representatives in those cases took to maximize their likelihood of obtaining relief in the U.S. The panel will also discuss whether chapter 15 recognition is a prerequisite to seeking relief in a U.S. court, and will analyze the split of authority on that issue.

Many companies operating in and around the energy industry have been adversely affected by the recent precipitous drop in the price of oil, a global trend that has exposed vulnerabilities in a number of industry segments and individual companies. The companies, their exposures and the complicated issues raised by their distress span the Americas. This panel will introduce the industry and recent trends, cover the ways that these companies finance themselves and operate, and discuss a number of complex multijurisdictional finance, legal, regulatory and environmental issues that will be significant in these restructurings.

Enjoy a breakfast discussion with the judges of the Southeast Bankruptcy Workshop.

This presentation will discuss ethical issues relating to representing debtors who have engaged in “aggressive” asset protection/exemption planning, the problem with using involuntary bankruptcies to resolve corporate disputes, issues on representing involuntary debtors, and what to do about clients who lie under oath or knowingly fail to turn over discovery.