Features
'Vessel Financing': Section 1110 Cast Adrift
Section 1110 of the Bankruptcy Code, 11 U.S.C. ' 1110, provides a special exemption from the automatic stay provisions of the Code, permitting a lessor to take possession of certain equipment 60 days after the lessee files for bankruptcy. This obtains unless the lessee's trustee performs the lessee's obligations, and cures all pre-bankruptcy defaults within the 60-day period. Lessors of aircraft are familiar with the myriad cases that have interpreted the application of Section 1110 to such equipment (see Section 1110(a)(3)(A)(i)).
IN THE MARKETPLACE
Highlights of the latest equipment leasing news from around the country.
No Surprise: 2002 an Off Year for Leasing
For the first time in at least 7 years, the equipment leasing industry has failed to recognize net portfolio growth for a calendar year, according to the Equipment Leasing Association's Quarterly Performance Indicators Report (PIR). Although the participants in the survey differ from year to year, it is not an encouraging sign that portfolio growth for the fourth quarter of 2002 decreased 1.7% from the same period in 2001. In line with the weak economic climate, disappointing results were also seen in employment and charge-offs, while new business ended the year up slightly after an otherwise down year.
Recharacterization Risks: Beware!
To the unwary, Revised Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code may pose significant risks. The Article is intended to cover all transactions, <i>regardless of form</i>, that in economic substance create a security interest. Using this broad policy mandate, courts have frequently disregarded many different transaction forms that, on their face, were documented to appear to be outside the scope of Revised Article 9. When this occurs the party that is deemed a secured lender in the recharacterized transaction will face losing substantial rights — unless that party complied with Article 9's perfection rules, which typically require the filing of a financing statement.
FASB Interpretation No. 46: Assessing the Impact
In a culmination of a project begun in the wake of disclosures concerning Enron Corporations' use of special-purpose entities (SPEs), the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued its long-anticipated interpretation of ARB No. 51, <i>Consolidated Financial Statements</i>, and FASB Statement No. 94, <i>Consolidation of All Majority-Owned Subsidiaries</i>, on January 17, 2003.
Features
NEWS BRIEFS
Highlights of the latest franchising news from around the country.
COURT WATCH
Highlights of the latest franchising cases from around the country.
Features
Mediation Before Litigation: Delaware Court's Expanded Jurisdiction Offers Remedy in Franchise Disputes
On May 29, 2003, the Governor of Delaware, Ruth Ann Minner, signed into law new legislation that may signal the willingness of courts to facilitate the resolution of disputes before the parties have passed the 'point of no return' and resorted to litigation. If the new model proposed in Delaware meets with success and is broadened and adopted by other courts, the development could be meaningful for both franchisors and franchisees, given that disputes frequently arise in franchise systems. Both would benefit from early resolution that would preserve the strength of the system and maintain the important relationships between the franchisor and the franchisee during the balance of the term of the franchise agreement.
O (Why) Canada? The Ontario Court of Appeal Speaks in Rare Franchising Decision
<i>Part 1 of a 2-part series.</i> Why should U.S. franchisors care about Canada and Canadian franchise law? Savvy franchisors realize that Canada's population is about the same as California's, and that the tastes of many Canadians are similar to (and molded) by their American counterparts. Also, U.S. franchisors' investment in Canada is facilitated under the North American Free Trade Agreement and the Investment Canada Act. While there are certainly similarities between the United States and Canada in the law respecting business-format franchising and trademarks, there are some major differences as well — some subtle; others not so subtle.
REGULATORY DEVELOPMENTS
The proposed arrangement between a non-profit hospital and a for-profit emergency medical services transport services provider that serves a 17-county area in a prominently rural area of an anonymous state is the subject of a new OIG ruling. On July 3, 2003, the OIG posted Advisory Opinion No. 03-14, which involved a request concerning emergency helicopter transports of trauma patients. The unidentified state's Department of Transportation had concluded there was a real need for such emergency transport services because of higher mortality rates involved in transporting patients in this part of the state to appropriately equipped emergency rooms. Under the arrangement, the ambulance provider would buy, operate, staff, and maintain a helicopter that is equipped with a mobile intensive care unit to transport trauma victims, while the hospital would provide a landing pad next to the facility, and modest crew quarters and services for the helicopter ' which would be available to any ambulance company that brings or receives a patient to or from the facility. Moreover, emergency calls to 911 in the area are routed, based on pre-determined criteria, to a predetermined hospital, based on the patient's needs.
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MOST POPULAR STORIES
- The DOJ's Corporate Enforcement Policy: One Year LaterThe DOJ's Criminal Division issued three declinations since the issuance of the revised CEP a year ago. Review of these cases gives insight into DOJ's implementation of the new policy in practice.Read More ›
- Use of Deferred Prosecution Agreements In White Collar InvestigationsThis article discusses the practical and policy reasons for the use of DPAs and NPAs in white-collar criminal investigations, and considers the NDAA's new reporting provision and its relationship with other efforts to enhance transparency in DOJ decision-making.Read More ›
- The DOJ's New Parameters for Evaluating Corporate Compliance ProgramsThe parameters set forth in the DOJ's memorandum have implications not only for the government's evaluation of compliance programs in the context of criminal charging decisions, but also for how defense counsel structure their conference-room advocacy seeking declinations or lesser sanctions in both criminal and civil investigations.Read More ›
- The DOJ Goes Phishing: The Rise of False Claims Act Cybersecurity LitigationWhile the DOJ Civil Cyber-Fraud Initiative is still in its early stages and cybersecurity regulations are evolving, whistleblower plaintiffs have already begun leveraging the FCA to pursue alleged noncompliance with government cybersecurity requirements.Read More ›
- Circuit Courts Split On Review of Bankruptcy Court's Denial of Motion to DismissAppellate courts are split on whether to review a bankruptcy court's denial of a motion to dismiss an entire case. Two district judges within the past few months, hearing appeals from the bankruptcy court, have reached contrary results that underline the split among the nation's courts of appeals.Read More ›
