Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Arcapita, Bank B.S.C. v. Bahrain Islamic Bank

549 B.R. 56, 2016 WL 1276459
District Court, S.D. New York·Decided March 30, 2016·No. 15-cv-03828 (GBD); 15-CV-03829 (GBD)·Published·Cited by 59 cases

Opinion

[60] MEMORANDUM DECISION AND ORDER

GEORGE B. DANIELS, District Judge:

Plaintiff-Appellant, the official committee of unsecured creditors for the above-captioned chapter 11 action (“Committee”), began adversary proceedings in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York against Defendants-Appellees Bahrain Islamic Bank (“BisB”), and Tadhamon Capital B.S.C. (“Tadha-mon,” and together with BisB, “Banks”), respectively, seeking, inter alia, the avoidance of a preferential transfer. In a single decision, the Bankruptcy Court dismissed the adversary proceedings with prejudice, finding that it lacked personal jurisdiction over the Banks. It also denied the Committee’s request to engage in jurisdictional discovery. The Committee appeals the dismissal, the decision to dismiss with (as opposed to without) prejudice, and the decision to deny the Committee’s request to engage in jurisdictional discovery.1 After carefully reviewing the record and the parties’ briefs, and with the benefit of oral argument, this Court has concluded that the Bankruptcy Court erred when it held that it lacked personal jurisdiction over the Banks. Therefore, this Court vacates the Bankruptcy Court’s orders dismissing with prejudice the underlying adversary proceedings for lack of personal jurisdiction, and remands the adversary proceedings to the Bankruptcy Court.2

I. Background Facts3

Before filing for chapter 11 bankruptcy on March 19, 2012, Arcapita Bank B.S.C.(c) was licensed as an Islamic Wholesale bank by the Central Bank of Bahrain, and was headquartered in Bahrain. (BisB Complaint, included in Joint Appendix Vol. 1, attached to Brief for Appellant, (Case No. 15-cv-03828, ECF No. 16-1), at APP005 ¶ 12.4)

BisB is an Islamic commercial bank also headquartered in Bahrain. (Id. at APP005 ¶ 13.) BisB maintains correspondent ban accounts5 in the United States at Deutsche Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, and JP Morgan Chase Bank. (Id. at APP005 ¶ 14.)

[61] Tadhamon is also a Bahraini Corporation. (Tadhamon Complaint, included in Joint Appendix Vol. 1, attached to Brief for Appellant, (ECF No. 16-1), APP019 ¶ 13.) Tadhamon does not maintain any correspondent bank accounts in the United States. (See Transcript Regarding Hearing Held on March 9, 2014 re: Motion to Dismiss Adversary Proceeding, (ECF No. 16-2), at APP154:19-21.).

In March 2012, Arcapita hired BisB to make one investment, and Tadhamon to make two investments, respectively, on its behalf. (See BisB Complaint at APP008 ¶¶ 27-31; Tadhamon Complaint at APP022-023 ¶¶ 27-34.) Each transaction was executed in accordance with an agreement (“Placement Agreement”) that Arcapita had entered into with each Bank.6 (See BisB Complaint at APP007 ¶¶ 23-26; Ta-dhamon Complaint at APP021-022 ¶¶ 22-26.) The Placement Agreements provided that the Banks to which the agreement applied would formally initiate each investment transaction by submitting an offer to Arcapita to purchase commodities or securities on Arcapita’s behalf. The Banks’ offer set forth: (1) the amount, in a specific currency, of the funds Arcapita would transfer to the Bank if it accepted the Bank’s offer (the “Placement”); (2) the specific bank account into which Arcapita would transfer, and the Bank would receive, the funds; (3) the commodity or securities that the Bank would purchase with the funds on Arcapita’s behalf; (4) a predetermined rate of return that Arcapita would earn on its investment; and (5) a maturity date — i.e., the date on which the Bank would transfer back to Arcapita its initial investment plus an agreed upon prof it rate, minus a fee. (See Declaration of Mohammed Ebraim Mohammed in Support of Motion to Dismiss [] Defendant Bahrain Islamic Bank (“Mohammed Decl.”), (ECF No. 16-1), Exhibit A, at APP040 ¶ 4.1, id, at APP043; Declaration of Waleed Rashdan in Support of Motion to Dismiss [ ] Defendant Tadhamon Capital B.S.C. (“Rashdan Decl.”), (ECF No. 16-1), Exhibit A, at APP063, Exhibit B, at APP069.)

On or around March 14, 2012, Arcapita accepted an investment offer from BisB. Pursuant to the terms of the offer, Arca-pita transferred $10 million to a BisB-des-ignated account, specifically, BisB’s JP Morgan Chase correspondent bank account located in New York. (BisB Complaint at APP008 ¶¶ 27-28.) The same day that it received the money in its New York correspondent bank account, BisB purchased 14,245 troy ounces of palladium on Arcapita’s behalf through a broker in London. (Mohammed Decl. at APP035 ¶ 10; Declaration of Nicholas A. Bassett in Support of the Objection of the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors to Bahrain Islamic Bank’s Motion to Dismiss the Complaint (“Bassett Decl.”), (ECF No. 16-1), Exhibits A-C, at APP081-086.) The investment was set to mature on March 29, 2012. (BisB Complaint at APP008 ¶31.) Before Arcapita made the $10 million Placement, it was already indebted to BisB in -the amount of $9,774,096.15. (Id. at APP006 ¶¶20, 22.)

On or about March 15, 2012, Arcapita accepted two investment offers from Ta-dhamon. (Tadhamon Complaint at APP022 ¶ 27.) Pursuant to the terms of the offers, Arcapita made two $10 million transfers to a Tadhamon-designated New York HSBC [62] correspondent bank account maintained by Khaleeji Commercial Bank B.S.C. (“Kha-leeji”), Tadhamon’s bank in Bahrain. (Id. at APP022 ¶ 28.) After receiving the funds, Khaleeji transferred the funds to Tadha-mon’s account at Khaleeji in Bahrain. (Id.) Tadhamon-then used the funds to purchase Bahranian securities on Arcapita’s behalf. (Rashdan Decl. at APP054 ¶ 18.) The investments were set to mature on March 30, 2012 and April 16, 2012, respectively.7 (Tadhamon Complaint at APP 022-023 ¶¶ 32-33.). Before Arcapita made the two Placements totaling $20 million, it was already indebted to Tadhamon in the amount of $18,497,734.48. (Id. at APP020-021 ¶¶ 19, 21.)

On March 19, 2012, less than a week after executing all .three Placements, Arca-pita filed for bankruptcy. (BisB Complaint at APP008 ¶ 30; Tadhamon Complaint at APP022 ¶ 31.)

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Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Arcapita, Bank B.S.C. v. Bahrain Islamic Bank, 549 B.R. 56, 2016 WL 1276459 (S.D.N.Y. 2016).

549 B.R. 56 (Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Arcapita, Bank B.S.C. v. Bahrain Islamic Bank) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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