Regional news: North America
Former Celsius investment manager blocked from withdrawing funds
A New York judge has temporarily blocked a former partner of collapsed crypto network Celsius from using disputed funds taken from the company after learning he withdrew US$100,000 to pay his lawyers earlier this week, one day before the start of a hearing on an injunction motion against him.
12 January 2023
“Appalling abuse of the bankruptcy system”: lawyer banned after advising client to spread covid-19
A bankruptcy lawyer in Colorado has been suspended from practicing for three years after committing a litany of “egregious” offences in a Chapter 7 case, including advising the debtors to infect their trustee’s counsel with coronavirus – with funds secured from a resultant malpractice claim used to pay creditors in full.
12 January 2023
Dechert duo set to join Cleary in London
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton has hired Solomon Noh and Alastair Goldrein as partners to grow the firm’s emerging markets restructuring practice in London.
10 January 2023
Ch15 round-up: Estonian trustee seeks US recognition to pursue missing crypto
The trustee of an allegedly fraudulent Estonian crowdfunding platform has sought recognition of his appointment in Florida, where the decades-long Brazilian liquidation of a poultry business has been recognised – while two other new Chapter 15 actions are pending in Massachusetts and Colorado.
10 January 2023
FTX CEO and Bahamian JPLs sign co-operation agreement
Despite an escalating war of words at the start of last week, the team behind bankrupt cryptocurrency platform FTX’s Chapter 11 case and the securities regulator of the Bahamas and its appointed liquidators have agreed to cooperate.
09 January 2023
Validity of energy pricing lies outside of bankruptcy court’s remit, Fifth Circuit rules
US bankruptcy courts do not have the authority under Texas law to decide if power rates charged by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas and the Texas Public Utility Commission were illegal, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled.
09 January 2023
Celsius ruling “should be helpful” to FTX customers, ex-CEO faces fraud suit
After a New York court ruled this week that bankrupt crypto brokerage Celsius owns funds deposited by thousands of investors, lawyers in the US and Singapore tell GRR the decision provides important drafting lessons and may prove a useful precedent for FTX customers.
06 January 2023
Crypto investors lodge class action over alleged concealed insolvency
Cryptocurrency lender Genesis is facing a class action arbitration claim from three investors who accuse it of conducting a billion-dollar sham transaction to conceal that it has been insolvent for months.
06 January 2023
Canadian gold miner enters bankruptcy after failed restructuring
Gold miner Great Panther has filed for bankruptcy after its major creditor, a subsidiary of Japanese metals conglomerate Asahi, persuaded a Canadian court to lift the stay that was protecting the company while it attempted to restructure under the Companies Creditors Arrangement Act.
05 January 2023
Crypto miner Core Scientific authorised to reject contracts with Celsius
Texas-headquartered crypto miner Core Scientific has been allowed to reject executory contracts with bankrupt trading platform Celsius that are the subject of a dispute in a New York bankruptcy court, after a Texas judge reasoned that rejecting a contract does not violate the Chapter 11 automatic stay.
04 January 2023