Tenth Circuit Upholds Recharacterization of Debt to Equity

While not expressly authorized by the Bankruptcy Code, it is generally well-established that a bankruptcy court, as a court of equity, is not bound by a party’s characterization of a transaction and, instead, may recharacterize the nature of the transaction, acknowledging the economic realities involved.  The prime example occurs in instances where an insider purports to loan money to a […]

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SCOTUS Restricts Inherent Bankruptcy Authority

In Law v. Siegel, 571 U.S. ___ (2014) (slip opinion), the Supreme Court of the United States invalidated a bankruptcy court’s use of its inherent authority to tax (surcharge) a debtor’s exempt property with legal expenses incurred by a chapter 7 trustee during a bankruptcy case.  In doing so, the Supreme Court reminded us that a […]

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