How Can Hedge Funds that Invest in Distressed Debt Keep Their Strategies and Positions Confidential in Light of the Disclosures Required by Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 2019(a)? (Part Two of Three)

An article in the August 27, 2009 issue of the Hedge Fund Law Report examined recent decisions that shed light on the scope of disclosure required under Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 2019(a) (Rule 2019(a)).  See “How Can Hedge Funds that Invest in Distressed Debt Keep Their Strategies and Positions Confidential in Light of the Disclosures Required by Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 2019(a)? (Part One of Three),” Hedge Fund Law Report, Vol. 2, No. 34 (Aug. 27, 2009).  This article further analyzes the issues that arise from those cases – issue that are currently under deliberation by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware in the matter of the reorganization of Washington Mutual Inc., the former holding company of failed Washington Mutual Bank.  This article draws on the views of leading practitioners in bankruptcy and other relevant legal areas to illustrate three points, among others: (1) relevant bankruptcy practice has not changed significantly since 2005, when the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, in cases arising out of the bankruptcy of Northwest Airlines, required certain disclosures (e.g., the price and timing of securities purchases) by members of an ad hoc equity committee and refused to permit the disclosures to be made under seal; (2) the Northwest precedent has given litigants a new weapon that may be used against hedge funds that purchase distressed debt, though the effectiveness of that weapon remains to be determined; and (3) the hedge fund industry, and even some bankruptcy court judges, are looking to the Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure of the Judicial Conference of the United States to resolve the uncertainty created by the Northwest decisions.

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