In a decision made on August 11, 2009, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York allowed solvent, special purpose entity subsidiaries of a bankrupt parent company, General Growth Properties, Inc., to maintain their Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases, raising several important issues related to the use of special purpose entities structured to be "bankruptcy-remote." 

On June 10, 2009, the sale of substantially all of Chrysler's assets closed, just 42 days after the country's third largest automaker filed for bankruptcy protection. The closing followed a contentious sale hearing before the Bankruptcy Court, an expedited appeal to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals and a brief stay imposed by the United States Supreme Court. The source of the contention: three Indiana state pension funds, arguing that the sale of Chrysler's assets constituted a sub rosa plan of reorganization that upended the priority scheme of the Bankruptcy Code. Rejecting the I

On February 17, 2009, President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Tax Act of 2009 ("ARRTA").  ARRTA contains significant potential Federal income tax relief for businesses.  Some of the more important provisions are summarized in the remainder of this article.

A common strategy for acquiring the business of a troubled company is to purchase assets rather than acquire all outstanding capital stock of the target, based on the general principle that a purchaser of assets is not responsible for liabilities of its seller absent an express or implied assumption.  Does the strategy work?  Depending on the liability and circumstances, the answers are "No" and "Maybe," and sometimes a qualified "Yes."  In troubled economic times, buyers may