In celebration of International Women’s Day, 9fin hosted an all-women panel of legal experts on March 24 to tackle a key question in distressed investing: when companies enter financial distress, do the structures designed to protect lenders of special purpose vehicles (SPVs) and isolate risk actually hold up?
Glenn Agre partner Skye Tian Gao joined partners from Morrison & Foerster and Ropes & Gray to discuss how recent cases have exposed vulnerabilities in SPV structures — including challenges to independent directors, separateness covenants, intercompany loans, and the authority of SPVs to file for bankruptcy.
The panel use a range of case studies to examine what happens when separateness breaks down, touched on the ongoing tension between debtors and SPV lenders over post-petition receivables, and examined complex Holdco/Propco structures.
