The Supreme Court’s Decision:

On May 16, 2016, in Husky International Electronics, Inc. v. Daniel Lee Ritz, Jr., Case No. 15-145, the Supreme Court held that the term “actual fraud” in § 523(a)(2)(A) of the Bankruptcy Code encompasses fraudulent conveyance schemes, even if the scheme does not involve a false representation to the creditor.  In reversing the judgment of the Fifth Circuit, the Supreme Court’s ruling settled a split among the circuits regarding whether “actual fraud” under § 523(a)(2)(A) requires a misrepresentation or misleading omission to the creditor. Compare In re Ritz, 787 F.3d 312 (5th Cir. 2015) with McClellan v. Cantrell, 217 F.3d 890 (7th Cir. 2000), and Sauer V. Lawson, 791 F.3d 214 (1st Cir. 2015).

The Appeal:

On March 1, 2016, the Supreme Court heard arguments as to whether the “actual fraud” exception to discharge under § 523(a)(2)(A) applied narrowly (i.e. only when the debtor

In a decision that surprised many, the United Stated Circuit Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit (the “10th Circuit Court of Appeals”) affirmed decisions finding that a payment made on account of a first time transaction between a debtor and creditor can qualify for the ordinary course of business defense under 11 U.S.C. § 547(c)(2).

C.W. Mining Company (the “Debtor”) entered into an equipment agreement with a new contractor, SMC Electric Products, Inc. (“SMC”), in an attempt to increase the Debtor’s coal production. This agreement was reached several months before the filing of an involuntary bankruptcy petition. Within 90 days of the involuntary bankruptcy filing, the Debtor made the first payment under the agreement in the amount of $200,000 to SMC via wire transfer. The Trustee filed an adversary proceeding seeking to avoid and recover the $2000,000 payment under 11 U.S.C. §§ 547(b) and 550, as an alleged preferential

Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. (In re Motors Liquidation Co.), Appeal No. 13-2187 (2nd Cir. Jan. 21, 2015)

Second Circuit Decision Reminds Us to Double-Check Documents

In a decision that sent a shiver down the spine of attorneys and lenders alike, on January 21, 2015, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (the “Second Circuit”) ruled that JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. (“JPMorgan”) had released its security interest on a $1.5 billion loan to General Motors (“GM”) by inadvertently filing a UCC-3 termination statement. The Second Circuit held that although JP Morgan and GM did not intend to terminate the security interest at issue, the termination was effective because JP Morgan authorized the filing of the UCC-3 termination statement.

In October 2001, GM entered into a synthetic lease financing transaction (“Synthetic Lease”), by which it obtained approximately $300 million in financing from a syndicate