Creditors' Committee

Presented by ABI’s Secured Credit Committee, this panel will discuss recent trends and developments concerning debtor-in-possession financing by highlighting relevant issues from the debtor’s, lender’s, and creditors’ committee’s perspectives. The discussion will focus on recent chapter 11 cases, including cases from the retail and energy industries, disruption from COVID-19, and broader market observations.

Is the committee’s role shrinking? This session will cover statutory vs. ad hoc committees; challenging exclusivity; judicial reactions to the use of ad hoc committees; whether all committees have a fiduciary duty, and if so, to whom; how far committees can go in representing different unsecured creditor groups (divergent interests, or multiple committees?); ad hoc lender groups; whether gifting has survived; and the risk of extinction by examining Constellation and the problem of sudden death to committee by conversion on demand.

This panel will explore the efforts being taken to use blocking provisions in corporate and company organizational documents to limit the possibility of a bankruptcy filing, and will discuss the importance of independent board members in various transactions throughout the duration of a chapter 11 case and financial distress.

How do judges view the various types of committees–official statutory committees (including unsecured creditor, equity, retiree and tort claimant committees) and ad hoc committees? Is the makeup of the committee (trade/landlords/noteholders/bondholders/litigation claimants) relevant? What is Jevic’s impact on the ability of unsecured creditors’ committees to obtain recoveries for their constituents—do committees representing deeply out-of-the-money creditors have anything left in their toolboxes? This panel will discuss these questions and more relating to official and ad hoc committees.

This panel will discuss post-petition financing issues, such as what it takes for a third party to prime a DIP and what should be allowed for controls by secured creditors via DIP financing cash-collateral orders, including case milestones. What terms are and should be acceptable in first-day cash-collateral and DIP-financing orders (Aegean)? Too much control, or simply adequate protection?