In re MF Global Holdings Ltd.

515 B.R. 193, 2014 WL 4375687
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, S.D. New York
DecidedSeptember 4, 2014
DocketCase No. 11-15059 (MG) (Jointly Administered); Case No. 11-2790 (MG) SIPA
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 515 B.R. 193 (In re MF Global Holdings Ltd.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re MF Global Holdings Ltd., 515 B.R. 193, 2014 WL 4375687 (N.Y. 2014).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER LIFTING AUTOMATIC STAY TO PERMIT PAYMENTS OF DEFENSE COSTS UNDER CERTAIN INSURANCE POLICIES

MARTIN GLENN, UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY JUDGE

Once again, former MF Global directors and officers (the “Individual Insureds”1) [196]*196ask the Court for relief so they can access proceeds of certain directors and officers liability insurance policies (“D & 0 Policies”) to fund their mounting defense costs on various legal actions. The Individual Insureds previously requested access to proceeds of the D & 0 Policies and to certain errors and omissions insurance policies (“E & 0 Policies”) to pay for defense costs. Rather than give the Individual Insureds unfettered access to the policy proceeds, the Court issued a written opinion in April 2012 lifting the automatic stay and setting a $30 million limit (the “Soft Cap”) on the amount of policy proceeds that the Insureds could access. The Court did not determine whether the policy proceeds were part of the estates of either MF Global Inc. (“MFGI,” a debtor in Case No. 11-02790) or MF Global Holdings Ltd. (“MFGH”) and its subsidiaries (debtors in Case No. 11-15059, collectively the “MFGH Debtors”). The answer to that question was far from clear because the D & O Policies and E & O Policies were not identical and implicated different property interests. The requests came early in these bankruptcy cases before it was clear what claims would or could be made against the insurance proceeds.

The Individual Insureds exhausted the Soft Cap in short order, leading them to ask the Court to increase the Soft Cap in May 2013. The Court denied that request •without prejudice because of a pending appeal in the Second Circuit, so the Individual Insureds renewed the request in April 2014. After the Second Circuit dismissed the appeal, the Court granted the Individual Insureds’ motion to increase the Soft Cap to $43.8 million, while expressing concern over the rate at which the policy proceeds were being spent. Now, the Individual Insureds ask the Court to hold that proceeds of the D & O Policies — but not the E & O Policies — are not property of the MFGI or MFGH estates and should not be subject to the Soft Cap any longer. By limiting their requests to the D & O Policies, the Individual Insureds have advanced compelling arguments that the proceeds should not be subject to further bankruptcy court oversight or limitation. Additionally, the passage of time has allowed the Court to conclude that MFGI and MFGH are unlikely to be named in any lawsuits that would give rise to coverage under the D & O Policies, and similarly, purported MFGI or MFGH indemnification obligations that could give rise to a claim against the D & O Policies (other than certain claims already filed) are also unlikely.

The Court remains concerned about the rate at which the proceeds of the D & O Policies (the “D & O Proceeds”) are being spent — more than $48 million in defense costs and expenses have been incurred so far and not a single deposition has been taken in the MDL proceedings pending in the district court. But the Individual Insureds are entitled to D & O Proceeds in which MFGI and MFGH have no property interest. The Court therefore GRANTS the Motion to allow payment of D & O Proceeds for all covered claims up to the full Policy amounts, less $13.06 million. That $13.06 million represents the amount MFGH could claim against the D & O Policies if it pays the indemnification claims of three Individual Insureds (Jon Corzine, Bradley Abelow, and Henri Steenkamp, the “Indemnification Claimants”), now estimated at $15 million, and certain additional estimated indemnification claims totaling $560,000 for other [197]*197claimants (the “Stipulated Claimants”2) in a stipulation with the Plan Administrator that was approved by the Court (see ECF Doc. # 1986, Ex. 13). Payment of those indemnification claims is far from assured, but the Court granted a motion to estimate the claims at $15 million and also approved the stipulation (see ECF Doc. # 1986); therefore, $15.56 million should be reserved for potential payment to Indemnification Claimants and Stipulated Claimants MFGH seeks to estimate the Indemnification Claimants’ claims at $15 million and the Stipulated Claimants’ claims at $560,000. If MFGH paid those claims in full, it could make a $13.06 million claim against the D & O Policies (accounting for $2.5 million self-retention provisions in the Policies). So for now, MFGH has an interest in $13.06 million of the D & O Proceeds, and that portion of the Proceeds should not be spent absent further relief from the Court.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Procedural History

Pending before the Court is the Motion of the Individual Insureds to Lift Automatic Stay and Modify Plan Injunction as to Proceeds of Certain MF Global Policies of Directors and Officers’ Liability Insurance (the “Motion,” ECF Doc. # 1956). Certain of the Individual Insureds seek an order (1) lifting the automatic stay in the MFGI case, and (2) modifying the Plan injunction (the “Plan Injunction”) in the MFGH case regarding D & O Proceeds for the 2011-2012 policy year. The Individual Insureds ask the Court to authorize the insurers to pay defense costs with the D & O Proceeds and resolve claims consistent with the D & O Policies’ terms. The Individual Insureds previously sought relief regarding D & O and E & O Policies, but this Motion only seeks relief as to the D & O Policies. The MFGH Plan Administrator filed an opposition (the “Opp.,” ECF Doc. # 1964), joined by the representatives (the “Customer Representatives”) in the class action on behalf of former MFGI commodity customers (ECF Doc. # 1965) and James W. Giddens (the “SIPA Trustee”), who serves as the trustee for the liquidation of MFGI under the Securities Investor Protection Act of 1970, as amended (“SIPA”), 15 U.S.C. § 78aaa et seq. (ECF Doc. # 1966). The Individual Insureds filed a reply (ECF Doc. # 1974).

Since November 2011, numerous directors, officers, and employees of MF Global have been named as defendants in lawsuits filed by securities holders, commodity customers, and other plaintiffs. Some have also been the subject of various government investigations. (Motion ¶ 8.) Many of the civil actions have been consolidated under the caption, DeAngelis v. Corzine, No. 11 Civ. 7866(VM) (S.D.N.Y. filed Nov. 3, 2011), pending before Judge Victor Marrero. (Id. ¶ 9.) Today, the principal lawsuits still pending are (1) two securities class actions involving MFGH-issued securities, (2) a class action brought on behalf of MFGI commodity customers (the “Customer Class Action”), (3) an action by Sa-pere CTA Fund L.P. (“Sapere”), an MFGI institutional trading customer that opted out of the Customer Class Action, (4) a suit by the MFGH Liquidating Trustee asserting breach of fiduciary duty claims [198]*198(the “Litigation Trust Lawsuit”), and (5) a suit by the CFTC alleging violations of the Commodity Exchange Act (collectively, the pending cases will be referred to as the “Underlying Cases”). Together, the cases seek to hold the Individual Insureds jointly and severally liable for more than $1 billion in damages. (Motion ¶ 10.)

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
515 B.R. 193, 2014 WL 4375687, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-mf-global-holdings-ltd-nysb-2014.