FOURTH CIRCUIT TACKLES AND TURNS BACK TANGLE OF INTERPRETATIONS OF NATURAL GAS'COMMODITY FORWARD AGREEMENTS'AND'SWAPS'FOR PURPOSES OF PROTECTING SHAREHOLDER RIGHTS IN NATIONAL GAS DISTRIBUTORS'BANKRUPTCY CASE

摘要

In an opinion decided 2/11/09,the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit reversed and remanded and set out some guidelines for a bankruptcy court to re-decide a question whether natural gas contracts trading in consideration of bankruptcy obligations inyolved"commodity forward agreements,"which are included in the definition of"swap agreements."Congress'attempt to require a relationship between a commodity forward agreement and the financial markets need not be defined by trading in a market or on an exchange,the Court advised.National Gas Distributors LLC,debtor,Richard Hutson II,trustee for National Gas Distributors,LLC v.E.I.Du Pont de Nemours and Co.,Inc.;Smith field Packing Co.,Inc.(No.07-2105).An appeal had been made from the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina.Fourth Circuit Judge Paul Niemeyer wrote the opinion,in which Circuit Judge M.Blane Michael and Judge Richard Bennett(U.S.Judge for the District of Maryland)joined.