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Vol 12, Num 1 l February

Secured Credit - an ABI Newsletter

► In This Issue:

A Message from Your Committee Co-Chairs

ABI

Thomas M. Horan
Womble Carlyle Sandridge
& Rice, LLP

Wimington, DE

ABI

Bryan R. Kaplan
Paul Hastings LLP
New York







Dear Secured Credit Committee Members:

The Secured Credit Committee is gearing up for an active year, and we look forward to working with the Committee membership on a number of interesting initiatives.

The upcoming Annual Spring Meeting will be from April 16–19, 2015 in Washington, DC. The Secured Credit Committee is co-sponsoring a joint educational session with the Legislation Committee on Friday, April 17 at 4:15 p.m. entitled Secured Credit Under the Code and Commission Report. The program will examine the existing treatment of secured creditors under the Bankruptcy Code, and contrast it with the proposed treatment under the recently released ABI Commission Report. We hope that many Committee members will attend and participate in what promises to be an illuminating debate.

There will be ample opportunities to publish with the Committee this year, including by submitting an article for the Secured Credit Committee’s quarterly newsletter. Newsletter editor Joshua Lewis is always looking for articles, so please feel free to contact him if you are interested. In addition, the Secured Credit Committee continues to work on an ABI publication on cutting edge issues affecting the secured creditor community. The publication is being spearheaded by Michael Fagone, our Special Projects Leader, and he would be happy to hear from you if you would like to contribute.

Please do not hesitate to contact any of the Committee leadership if you have an idea for a program or project that you would like to explore. We appreciate the membership’s interest and participation, and welcome everyone’s input and feedback. Here’s to a great 2015 for the Secured Credit Committee, and looking forward to being in touch this year.

Thomas M. Horan, Co-Chair
Bryan R. Kaplan, Co-Chair

Pre-Bankruptcy Planning for the Secured Creditor Under the Uniform Commercial Code: Five New Year’s Resolutions

ABI

Gwendolyn J. Godfrey
Bryan Cave LLP
Atlanta

ABI

Leah Fiorenza McNeill
Bryan Cave LLP
Atlanta

In the spirit of the New Year, and in the spirit of par-plus-interest recoveries for secured lenders everywhere, we would like to share five New Year’s resolutions culled from recent case law and our experience assisting secured creditors in pre-bankruptcy planning for a defaulted borrower. These resolutions, of course, assume that you have the opportunity to perform a transaction review before the bankruptcy is filed, preferably well before the bankruptcy is filed, in case a documentation tweak is needed that would otherwise fall within the 90-day preference period.

If your client’s security interest is not properly perfected going into a bankruptcy, the client will likely end up an unsecured creditor once the bankruptcy case is filed. To avoid this outcome, convince your client that a full transaction review at the outset of any bankruptcy representation is money well spent. Likewise, when you take on new business, make it a habit to conduct a full review yourself to confirm that your client’s security interests have been properly granted and are perfected. Otherwise, the sins of those who originally documented the transaction may be unfairly visited upon you. Now, on to the resolutions….

Confirm your financing statement has not lapsed and is not on the brink of lapsing before the bankruptcy case is filed. Remember the effect of a post-petition lapse of perfection. A lender must file a UCC-3 continuation statement within six months before the expiration of the financing statement to prevent its lapse under the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC). » Read More

Committee to Discuss Commission Report Impact on Secured Lenders: Big Problem or the Dog that Didn't Bark?

The Secured Credit Committee will be teaming up with the Legislation Committee at this year’s Annual Spring Meeting to discuss secured credit issues under the code and commission report. Speakers for this panel include Patricia Redmond of Stearns, Weaver, Miller, Weissler, Alhadeff & Sitterson, PA in Miami (Moderator); Anthony Grossi of the Committee on the Judiciary, U.S. House of Representatives in Washington, D.C.; Jonathan Helfat of Otterbourg P.C. in New York; Daniel Kamensky of Paulson & Co. Inc. in New York; and James Millstein of Millstein & Co. in Washington, D.C. Join us on April 16 at the Renaissance Washington D.C.!

In the above video, see Judge Rhodes describe his Annual Spring Meeting discussion of the Detroit case - another feature at this year's event.

Have You Visited the New abi.org Yet?

ABI

ABI recently introduced a new flagship website, abi.org, to continue to deliver better services and online resources for members to meet their professional needs. The new website provides a cleaner, more user-friendly interface for members to find the latest information on bankruptcy news and developments, register for ABI events and access other member resources. The membership directory is all new as well, complete with your photo and a enhanced listings of your experience and ABI activity. To update your member profile, click here (login required).

Should you have any questions or difficulty using the site, please go to support.abi.org to seek assistance.

39th Annual Alexander L. Paskay Memorial Bankruptcy Seminar • Tampa, Florida • March 5-7

 

April 16-19, 2015 American Bankruptcy Institute 33rd Annual Spring Meeting

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