The SRZ Insider Trading Developments newsletter was highlighted on The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation blog. The post provides an overview of the newsletter, including information regarding recent Congressional action, regulators’ aggressive prosecution of “expert network” cases and the broad view that prosecutors and courts are taking of insider trading.

Recent legislative, regulatory and judicial developments relating to insider trading reflect an increased focus on preventing and prosecuting the trading of securities and commodities based on material nonpublic information. This issue of SRZ’s Insider Trading Developments newsletter includes an outline of SEC/DOJ actions in 2012 and highlights recent Congressional action, regulators’ aggressive prosecution of “expert network” cases and the broad view that prosecutors and courts are taking of insider trading.

The Schulte Roth & Zabel Distressed Debt & Claims Trading Developments newsletter provides coverage of current trends and hot topics.

Articles in the Spring 2012 edition include:

• Short Selling Bank Debt Still Remains a Gray Area
• Loan Market Association Moves to Bolster European Secondary Market Liquidity
• Recognition of Trustee Filing in French Insolvency Safeguard Proceedings
• SRZ Webinar: European Distressed Debt and Claims Trading — Spotlight on Compliance and Regulatory Issues
• New Disclosure Requirements for Ad Hoc Groups and Committees
• A Step Toward Clarifying European Borrower’s Consent Rights
• Bankruptcy Claims Trading: Volume Record in February and Value Record in March

On Dec. 21, 2011, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey approved a liquidation plan for collateralized debt obligation issuer (“CDO”) Zais Investment Grade Limited VII (“ZING VII”). The plan incorporates a settlement between senior noteholders who had initiated the bankruptcy case by filing an involuntary petition against the CDO, and junior noteholders who were appealing the Bankruptcy Court’s April 26, 2011, order granting the involuntary petition. In a previous article, we reviewed the bankruptcy court opinion denying the junior noteholders’ motion to dismiss the filing.

The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey recently held that a Cayman Islands collateralized-debt obligation issuer (“CDO”) could be a debtor under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code and declined to dismiss an involuntary case commenced against the CDO by certain noteholders on the grounds that the notes held by such noteholders were “nonrecourse” notes. This article includes a discussion of the court’s decision and its potential implications. The decision is currently being appealed.

Currently, negotiation and documentation of claims trades remain largely unregulated, with only limited oversight from bankruptcy courts and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Generally, the bankruptcy court’s, or the claims agent’s, involvement in claims trading is ministerial, i.e., maintaining the claims register and recording transfers if the form complies with the rule. Only if there is an objection to a claims transfer does the bankruptcy court become involved in the substance of a transfer. Bankruptcy courts do, however, have the ability to control the actual transfer mechanics if a trading order is issued. These orders are increasingly common in large bankruptcy cases and may restrict trading in the debtors’ debt and equity securities and claims.

The Schulte Roth & Zabel Distressed Debt & Claims Trading Developments newsletter provides coverage of current trends and hot topics.

The Summer 2011 edition highlights:

• LMA updates to European loans and claims secondary trading documentation;
• Settlement and liquidity considerations when trading post-reorganization equity;
• LSTA introduction of Distressed BISO as a trade termination mechanism;
• Oversight and regulation of bankruptcy claims trading; and
• Expansion within SRZ’s Distressed Debt & Claims Trading Group.