U.S. court grants BTA bankruptcy protection

business and economy

U.S. court grants BTA bankruptcy protection

By SRI ⋅ March 5, 2010 ⋅

(SRI) - A U.S. bankruptcy court granted BTA Bank protection from U.S. creditors so that it may complete the restructuring of its $11.6-billion debt, Reuters reported.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge James Peck in Manhattan granted the bank’s request to recognize its voluntary restructuring pending before the Specialized Financial Court of Almaty City in Kazakhstan as a “foreign main proceeding,” as defined under Chapter 15 of the U.S. bankruptcy code. Non-U.S. companies use Chapter 15 to block creditors who want to file lawsuits or tie up assets in the United States.

In the ruling, Peck said the benefits of granting the relief outweigh any hardship to creditors, and that the relief is consistent with U.S. public policy and reflects the interests of the public and “international comity.”

BTA filed for U.S. court protection last month, a year after the state holding and investment company Samruk-Kazyna took a 75-percent stake in the bank.

The case is In re: JSC BTA Bank, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York, No. 10-10638.