The CFTC Adopts Comprehensive Amendments to Its Bankruptcy Rules – JD Supra

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Background

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) recently adopted final amendments to Part 190 of the CFTC's regulations (the "Final Rules"), governing bankruptcy proceedings with respect to commodity brokers.1 The Final Rules represent the first comprehensive update to the CFTC's bankruptcy rules since the Part 190 rules were initially adopted in 1983. Approved unanimously, the Final Rules serve to modernize and revise the CFTC's regulations to reflect changes in the commodity brokerage industry over that time.

Subchapter IV, chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code ("Code") sets out the essential provisions governing the liquidation of a commodity broker in bankruptcy. However, the CFTC is authorized under section 20 of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA), "notwithstanding the Code," to adopt rules that provide, among other things: (1) that certain cash, securities, other propertyor commodity contracts are to be included in or excluded from customer property or member property; and (2) the method by which the business of such commodity broker is to be conducted or liquidated after the date of the filing of the petition under the Code. Part 190 of the CFTC's regulations are promulgated under this authority as well as the CFTC's general rulemaking authority under section 8a(5) of the CEA.

Since the initial adoption of the Part 190 rules, there have been significant developments in practices with respect to commodity broker bankruptcies, including as a result of judicial decisions and certain high-profile bankruptcies (like that of MF Global Inc. and Peregrine Financial Group Inc.). As emphasized in former Chairman Heath Tarbert's statement in support of the Final Rules, they seek to clarify and codify key principles and approaches or practices that have developed over time as the existing Part 190 rules were applied to real-world bankruptcy situations.

Highlights of the Final Rules

At a high level, the Final Rules address the following major topics:

Statutory Authority, Organization, Core Concepts, Scope and Construction. The Final Rules adopt new CFTC Rule 190.00, which sets forth the statutory authority, organization, core concepts, scope and rules of construction for Part 190 of the CFTC's regulations. In particular, new CFTC Rule 190.00 sets out the CFTC's intent regarding bankruptcies for the benefit of market participants, trustees and the general public.

Default of a Derivatives Clearing Organization. The Final Rules adopt new Subpart C to Part 190 of the CFTC's regulations, which governs the bankruptcy of a DCO. Among other things, new Subpart C provides that the trustee should follow, to the extent practicable and appropriate, the DCO's pre-existing default management rules and procedures and recovery and wind-down plans that have been submitted to the CFTC. These rules, procedures and plans will, in most cases, have been developed pursuant to Part 39 of the CFTC's regulations, subject to CFTC staff oversight. This approach relieves the trustee of the burden of developing, in the moment, models to address an extraordinarily complex situation.

Priority of Customers and Customer Property. The Final Rules clarify that shortfalls in segregated property should be made up from the general assets of the FCM. The Final Rules also clarify that, with respect to customer property, public customers are favored over non-public customers.

Securities Investors Protection Act (SIPA) and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). The Final Rules confirm the applicability of Part 190 of the CFTC's regulations in the context of an FCM that also is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as a broker-dealer and subject to a proceeding guided primarily by the SIPA. Likewise, the Final Rules clarify the applicability of Part 190 in the context of a proceeding in which the FDIC is acting as receiver.

Letters of Credit as Collateral. The Final Rules confirm the treatment of letters of credit used as collateral. Specifically, the Final Rules make clear that customers posting letters of credit as collateral will be subject to the same pro rata loss as customers that post other types of collateral, such as cash and securities, both during business as usual and during bankruptcy.The pro-rata loss would be calculated based on the face value of the posted letter of credit, even if only a portion was drawn down by a customer at the time of the bankruptcy.

Greater Trustee Discretion. The Final Rules grant trustees greater discretion by, among other things, permitting the trustees to treat public customers on an aggregated basis. This greater discretion generally favors the cost effective and prompt distribution of customer property over the precision of valuing each customer's entitlements on an individual basis.

Transferring Rather Than Liquidating Customer Positions. The Final Rules further confirm the CFTC's longstanding preference for transferring positions of public customers rather than liquidating the positions.

Reflect Changes to CFTC's Regulatory Framework. The Final Rules update Part 190 of the CFTC's regulations to better reflect changes to the CFTC's regulatory framework over the years, including the CFTC's recent revisions to its customer protection rules. The Final Rules also update cross-references to other CFTC rules.

Changes in Technology. The Final Rules also reflect changes in technology, including a recognition that many records are captured and stored electronically rather than on paper.

Non-Substantive Clarifications. The Final Rules provide non-substantive changes to clarify language in the CFTC's regulations. These clarifications are intended to address ambiguities that have complicated past bankruptcies.

A chart summarizing all of the provisions in the Final Rules is available in this advisory's appendix.

Effective Date of the Final Rules

The Final Rules are effective 30 days after publication in the Federal Register.

Principal Changes From the Proposed Rules and Supplemental Proposed Rules

The Final Rules differ from the proposed amendments2 and supplemental amendments,3 published in the Federal Register on June 12, 2020 and September 24, 2020, respectively, in a few key respects. In particular, the Final Rules clarify in CFTC Rule 190.11 that if a debtor clearing organization is organized outside the United States, then only selected provisions in Part 190 of the CFTC's regulations would apply, including (1) the general provisions in Subpart A to Part 190; (2) the reports and records requirements in CFTC Rule 190.12; and (3) the prohibition on avoidance of transfers in Rule 190.13 and the net equity calculation and treatment of property requirements in Rules 190.17 and 190.18, but only with respect to an FCM clearing member's public customers. The CFTC expressed its rationale in adopting the final scheme as a balance between protecting customers and mitigating conflict with foreign proceedings.

Additionally, the CFTC adopted a simplified CFTC Rule 190.14(b) that is consistent with DCO rules governing the default of the DCO. As originally proposed, Rule 190.14(b) included additional provisions that were intended to provide a brief opportunity, after the order for relief, to enable alternatives (i.e., resolution under Title II of the DoddFrank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act ("Dodd-Frank Act") or the transfer of clearing operations to another DCO) in lieu of liquidation. In response to comments following the Proposed Rules, the CFTC withdrew proposed paragraphs (b)(2) and (b)(3) and issued the Supplemental Proposed Rules with an alternative approach to facilitate the potential resolution of a systemically important DCO under Title II of the Dodd-Frank Act. In adopting the Final Rules, the CFTC determined not to go forward with the Supplemental Proposed Rules. As adopted, Rule 190.14(b) provides only that subsequent to the order for relief, the DCO must cease making calls for variation settlement or initial margin. Relatedly, former Chairman Heath Tarbert noted that the CFTC will engage in "further analysis and development before proposing this, or any other, alternative approach."

Katten's prior advisory, "More Than a Refresh but Much Less Than A Substantial Overhaul: The CFTC Proposes Comprehensive Amendments to Its Bankruptcy Rules," includes a discussion of the Proposed Rules.

See the CFTC's Supplemental Proposed Rules.

_______________

Appendix: Chart Summarizing Changes to Part 190 of CFTC Regulations

Elias Wright, an associate in the Financial Markets and Funds practice and candidate for admission to the New York State bar, contributed to this advisory.

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The CFTC Adopts Comprehensive Amendments to Its Bankruptcy Rules - JD Supra

Breathing Room for Commercial Tenants in Bankruptcy – The National Law Review

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Thursday, January 28, 2021

The mammoth spending and COVID-19 pandemic relief bill contains provisions related to commercial real estate leases in bankruptcy. Landlords and business lessees in, or contemplating, bankruptcy will want to familiarize themselves with the new provisions.

By way of background, filing bankruptcy does not give you the automatic right to stop paying rent. Under the Bankruptcy Code, a Chapter 11 debtor must assume or reject its unexpired leases. There are conditions. First, assumption or rejection is subject to court approval. Second, the debtor must assume or reject within 120 days of filing bankruptcy or the date of an order confirming a plan of reorganization whichever is earlier. The debtor may get a 90-day extension if it can show good cause to do so, but any further extensions are subject to court approval and the lessor's consent. Third, to assume a lease, the debtor must cure all defaults. So if the lease is three months past due, the lessee must bring it current as a condition of assumption. Finally, before assuming or rejecting a lease, the debtor must "timely perform" all its obligations under the lease.

The CAA extends the assumption or rejection period from 120 days to 210 days with no court approval. Lessee debtors now have an additional three months of breathing room, and landlords now face an equally-extended period of uncertainty. A debtor can extend the period even further up to 300 days if the bankruptcy court finds good cause to do so.

As to payment of rent, bankruptcy courts now may grant subchapter V small business debtors additional time to satisfy post-petition rent obligations if the debtor is experiencing pandemic-induced financial hardship. Before the CAA, debtors could extend post-petition rent obligations up to 60 day after the petition date. Bankruptcy courts could not extend that time period beyond 60 days. The CAA allows bankruptcy courts to extend the 60-day period to 120 days for subchapter V debtors. Subchapter V debtors that receive this extraordinary relief may also repay the delayed administrative rent over time under their subchapter V plan, rather than repay it in full upon plan confirmation.

The Bankruptcy Code allows debtors and trustees to avoid and recover payments to creditors made within 90 days of the bankruptcy filing, subject to certain defenses. The specter of having to return payments can make it difficult for landlords to grant forbearance or deferralsto lessees in the shadow of bankruptcy. The CAA amends the Code to prohibit avoidance of preferential payments made by a debtor to landlords under agreements to defer or postpone payments entered into with a debtor after March 12, 2020.

These new CAA provisions are effective until the end of 2022.

2020 Ward and Smith, P.A.. All Rights Reserved.National Law Review, Volume XI, Number 28

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Breathing Room for Commercial Tenants in Bankruptcy - The National Law Review

How to help homeowners when they file bankruptcy – Inman

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Understanding each homeowners best options is key to being a real estate professional who advises homeowners in need of selling their home, especially when they are upside down or in default of their mortgage.

For many homeowners, bankruptcy may be a much smarter choice than facing foreclosure. But they may not have all the information they need to make the right decision. Thats where the agent comes in.

The purpose of bankruptcy is to offer financial relief to individuals when burdened with debt and looking for a fresh start.

In bankruptcy, homeowners have the option to retain or surrender their home. If they chose to retain, the homeowner must bring their home current or qualify for a modification. The harsh reality is that the vast majority of homeowners who are delinquent in bankruptcy end up in foreclosure. For homeowners that chose to surrender their home, the bankruptcy trustee becomes the legal seller and has the right to sell the home and settle the debts. However, over 98% of surrendered homes are abandoned by the trustee pushing the obligation back on the homeowner and right into foreclosure litigation.

Today many real estate professionals learn how to sell bankruptcy real estate and become something of a knight in shining armor to their clients in need.

Offering professional real estate experience to homeowners in bankruptcy is extremely rewarding and builds long term goodwill. It is always a good feeling to help a seller in need.

Selling properties in bankruptcy is complicated but can also be very profitable. ost real estate professionals shy away from them, unsure how to assist homeowners through the process. A homeowner in bankruptcy is called a debtor, and a debtor goes through many stages while in bankruptcy, and understanding these stages and what options they have is key. Debtors have many options.

Today, real estate agents and brokers have teamed up with BK Global, a company specializing in the sale of bankruptcy properties nationwide. BK Global has built an online platform giving the over 1,250 bankruptcy trustees and mortgage servicers the ability to connect and collaborate online to simplify selling real estate assets in bankruptcy.

BK Global offers a Bankruptcy Specialist Certification that empowers real estate agents and brokers with the knowledge and solutions needed to work with a homeowner in bankruptcy.

Weve put together a training program where we certify brokers as bankruptcy-certified specialists, and we train them so that they know how to work these situations in bankruptcy, said Brad Geisen, CEO of BK Global. Brokers and agents know the best way to assist through our program. When talking to a homeowner, they know what to do and what to say. There are over 800,000 properties in bankruptcy between Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 right now, and thats before the surge.

Once you complete the certification, you are part of the BK Global broker network. BK Global assigns listings from trustees to certified agents and brokers in the local market and will refer homeowner listing opportunities on select cases. As part of their network, BK Global will help you work with the trustee and obtain lender approval from the mortgage servicer.

BK Global also provides access to all of the bankruptcy listings in your area, and you can approach the homeowners directly. You would be surprised to see how many homeowners are in bankruptcy. You can click on the link below and type in your zip or city and see current bankruptcy opportunities.

To learn to become a Certified Bankruptcy Specialist click here.

BK Global was founded by Brad Geisen, a 35-year veteran of the default real estate industry, to mitigate real estate assets in bankruptcy better. In his career, he created or operated websites such as Foreclosure.com, HomePath.com, HomeSteps.com, TaxLiens.com, HUDHouses.com, and many more. He developed and ran a pilot program for the HUD, which became the highly effective HUD M&M Program that still operates today. Mr. Geisen created the first online offer management platform which has become the industry standard used by mortgage lenders and Government-Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs).He also created a national training and education platform for GSEs and Mortgage Servicers to improve vendor performance and ensure compliance. He also developed a National Short Sale Platform, to facilitate fast, efficient approvals.

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How to help homeowners when they file bankruptcy - Inman

Weinstein Co. Bankruptcy Attorneys to Receive Millions More Than Victims – Variety

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The attorneys and professionals in the Weinstein Co. bankruptcy case have received $26 million in fees thus far, considerably more than the $17.1 million that Harvey Weinsteins victims will receive.

The legal bills are still coming in, and will likely exhaust the $3.3 million remaining in the companys accounts, according to testimony from Robert Peck, the companys former controller.

The fees represent a sizable chunk of the cost of resolving the case, but have received far less attention than the payouts to other stakeholders.

Last Monday, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Mary Walrath approved a $35.2 million settlement, which includes the $17.1 million fund that will be paid out to more than 50 of Weinsteins sexual misconduct accusers. The plan, which is funded by insurance policies, will also pay $9.7 million to cover defense costs for Weinstein Co. directors and officers, and $8.4 million to the companys trade creditors, including law firms and other entertainment companies.

The women with the most serious allegations rape or sexual assault will be paid something in the range of $500,000 to $1 million. While not insignificant, that is much less than they would receive if the company were solvent. Likewise, the trade creditors will get just a small fraction of what they are owed.

But under bankruptcy law, the lawyers and professionals who worked on the case will be paid close to the full amount billed. Experts in the field said they were not surprised by the fee amount.

Is it a staggeringly high number? Absolutely, said Nancy Rapoport, a law professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Does it shock me for a big case? Absolutely not.

Lynn LoPucki, a law professor at UCLA, has tracked fees in bankruptcy cases for decades, and waged a lonely battle to try to rein them in. Asked about the Weinstein Co. fees, he said, Theyre high. They are high in all bankruptcy cases, because theres no one controlling them.

Cravath, Swaine & Moore, the debtors lead counsel, has billed more than $12.4 million in fees and expenses. Paul Zumbro, the firm partner who has done most of the talking in Delaware bankruptcy court, has billed the debtor at the rate of $1,725 an hour a substantial hike from the $1,360 an hour he was billing when the case began nearly three years ago. In total, Cravath has billed more than $12.4 million in fees and expenses.

The relationship between Cravath and the Weinstein Co. dates from before the companys collapse. In 2017, two Cravath attorneys Karin DeMasi and Evan Chesler represented the company in a distribution dispute. The firm continued to represent the company in litigation against Harvey Weinstein after he was fired in October 2017.

Richards, Layton and Finger, based in Wilmington, was brought in to represent the company as local counsel in the Delaware bankruptcy court. That firm, which advertises itself as Delawares largest, has billed another $4.4 million. And Pachulski Stang Ziehl & Jones has billed more than $4.8 million to represent the committee of unsecured creditors, which included three trade creditors and two sexual misconduct claimants.

Debra Grassgreen, a senior partner at Pachulski Stang who billed at the rate of $1,095 an hour, told the court at the confirmation hearing that she had had emotional conversations with many of the women. She argued that the settlement was best deal the victims were likely to get.

These women need closure, she said.

But the opponents of the deal argued that it offered protection to Weinstein and his cohorts, who otherwise could face civil liability for allegations that they enabled his abuses. The settlement bars anyone even those who opposed the bankruptcy plan from suing Weinstein Co. board members Bob Weinstein, Tarak Ben Ammar, James Dolan, Richard Koenigsberg, Marc Lasry, Lance Maerov, Jeff Sackman, Tim Sarnoff, Paul Tudor Jones, and Dirk Ziff. It also protects ex-Weinstein Co. employees Frank Gil, David Glasser, and Barbara Schneeweiss from liability.

The deal also also offers accusers a powerful inducement to settle their claims against Weinstein. A claims examiner will review each womans allegations and divide up the victims fund based on a point scale. But in order to get the full amount, the accusers must relinquish any civil claims against Harvey Weinstein. If they refuse, they will forfeit 75% of the award.

The objectors argued the deal granted Weinstein the benefit of discharging a liability, without forcing him to declare personal bankruptcy or forfeit his own assets.

Theyre effectively protecting Harvey Weinstein. Thats what the whole bottom line in this situation is, LoPucki said. Why is the bankruptcy court protecting Harvey Weinstein? Harveys not in bankruptcy. Why is he getting the same benefits he would get if he did file bankruptcy?

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Weinstein Co. Bankruptcy Attorneys to Receive Millions More Than Victims - Variety

Sequoia Resources: Environmental obligations and the role of the trustee in bankruptcy – Lexology

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On January 25, 2021, the Alberta Court of Appeal (the ABCA) released its reasons in PricewaterhouseCoopers Inc. v Perpetual Energy Inc., 2021 ABCA 16 (Perpetual Energy). While the issue before the ABCA was of a preliminary nature namely whether the claims of the trustee in bankruptcy (the Trustee) should be summarily dismissed or struck as not disclosing a cause of action the legal principles considered by the ABCA extend far beyond the immediate parties and include broader questions around the nature and role of abandonment and reclamation obligations (AROs) after bankruptcy, the scope of a trustee in bankruptcys duties to third parties, the duties of a director in respect of a companys environmental liabilities, and the scope of releases in favour of directors.

In particular, the ABCA considered (and in some cases, emphasized or determined) the following important issues:

In the result, the ABCA determined that the case management judges criticisms of the Trustee were entirely unwarranted. According to the ABCA, the claims raised by the Trustee were complex and, in some cases, raised novel issues, which did not permit for fair disposition on a summary basis. The ABCA accordingly allowed the Trustees appeal, set aside the award of costs made by the case management judge against the Trustee, found that the award of costs made by the case management judge against the Trustee in its personal capacity was inappropriate, and dismissed the appeal of Perpetual Energy Inc. (Perpetual Energy Parent), Susan Riddell Rose (Ms. Rose) and the other respondents.

Background

Perpetual Energy involved complex claims by the Trustee of Sequoia Resources Corp., formerly known as Perpetual Energy Operating Corp. (Perpetual/Sequoia), against a former director of Sequoia and certain other companies in the Perpetual Energy Group arising from a pre-bankruptcy multi-step transaction.

Transaction

In 2016, Perpetual Energy Parent entered into a multi-step transaction (the Aggregate Transaction) whereby certain mature legacy oil and gas assets, which had significant AROs associated with them, were sold to Kailas Capital Corp. (Kailas). The Aggregate Transaction was structured such that the legacy assets could be transferred without triggering a regulatory review process from the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER).

As part of the Aggregate Transaction, Perpetual Operating Trust, the holder of the legacy assets, initially transferred the beneficial interest in the assets to its trustee, Perpetual/Sequoia, which was then a member of the Perpetual Energy Group (the Asset Transaction). Then, Perpetual Energy Parent sold all of its shares in Perpetual/Sequoia to a subsidiary of Kailas for $1.00, resulting in Kailas becoming the new parent corporation of Perpetual/Sequoia. As is common in sale transactions, Kailas and the sole director of Perpetual/Sequoia, Ms. Rose, signed a resignation and mutual release (the Release) pursuant to which Ms. Rose and Perpetual/Sequoia released each other from claims that they might otherwise be entitled to bring against the other.

Approximately 18 months after the Aggregate Transaction, Perpetual/Sequoia assigned itself into bankruptcy, and PricewaterhouseCoopers Inc. was appointed as Trustee.

Dispute

Following its appointment, the Trustee reviewed Perpetual/Sequoias affairs and concluded that the Asset Transaction was not in the best interests of Perpetual/Sequoia. In particular, the Trustee alleged that Perpetual/Sequoia obtained only $5.67 million in value for the assets but assumed more than $223 million in obligations, including AROs.

The Trustee commenced litigation against Perpetual Energy Parent, Ms. Rose and other members of the Perpetual Energy Group, alleging that

Both the Trustee and the defendants applied for summary judgment of the claims.

Summary judgment decisions

The case management judge struck or summarily dismissed most of the Trustees claims. In particular, the Oppression Claim was struck for failure to disclose a cause of action, because the Trustee was not a proper person to be a complainant pursuant to the Business Corporations Act (Alberta), or alternatively because the oppression claim lacked merit. The claim against Ms. Rose was struck for failure to disclose a cause of action, and it was also summarily dismissed on the basis that the Release was a complete defence.

Subsequently, the case management judge ruled that the Trustee should pay 85% of Ms. Roses solicitor and client costs, and that the Trustee should be personally liable for those costs. In his costs judgment, the case management judge set out several new duties that he found the Trustee owed to Ms. Rose (which duties he found the Trustee had breached), including that the Trustee owed a duty of procedural fairness to Ms. Rose in the course of conducting its investigations.

The Trustee and the Perpetual Energy defendants both appealed the summary judgment decisions, and the Trustee also appealed the costs award.

Result

The ABCA:

Analysis

Nature of AROs

Central to these decisions was the SCCs decision in Redwater, which confirmed that the AER was not a creditor with respect to AROs and that AROs were not claims provable in bankruptcy. In reliance on this proposition, the case management judge determined that AROs were assumptions and speculations that did not exist, were not obligations of Perpetual/Sequoia, and therefore should be valued as nil on Perpetual/Sequoias balance sheet.

Rejecting the case management judges interpretation of Redwater, the ABCA noted that AROs may not be current liabilities or obligations of a company, but are nevertheless real liabilities. While such obligations may be contingent in the sense that the moment that production will cease and such obligations come into existence may be uncertain, they are not contingent in the sense that they will only come into existence upon the occurrence of a defined condition precedent. The existence of AROs is a certainty, as their coming into existence is inevitable.

As a result of this analysis, the ABCA noted that while AROs may not be conventional debt, they are an obligation of oil and gas companies owed to the public and surface landowners that the trustee in bankruptcy cannot ignore. AROs operate in the insolvency context by depressing the value of the assets and, as the SCC held in Redwater, are obligations that must be discharged even in priority to paying secured creditors.

The ABCAs conclusions regarding the nature of AROs had a significant impact on the result reached by the Court:

The ABCAs determination that AROs are real obligations and liabilities of oil and gas companies in Alberta accords with common understandings of the term in Alberta and with what the ABCA found to be common practice amongst many oil and gas companies to report such obligations on their balance sheets. The decision resolves what has been criticized as the absurd interpretation of AROs reached by the case management judge, which has been noted as open[ing] the door to interpretations where general laws become meaningless and only debts owed to creditors count[4] a result expressly rejected by the SCC in Redwater. The ABCAs decision resolves the apparent disjunction between, on the one hand, the polluter pays principle endorsed by the SCC in Redwater and, on the other hand, the case management judges application of Redwater in a manner that permitted the Perpetual Energy Parent to take the benefit of oil and gas assets while producing, and then shed associated AROs when no longer economically viable.

While simply a byproduct of the ABCAs decision, the result reached by the ABCA establishes a thread of consistency between the courts and the AER to create greater accountability for environmental protection and remediation by those who choose to participate in Albertas oil and gas industry. View information on the latest steps taken by the AER to implement its new Liability Management Framework.

The status of the Trustee in advancing oppression claims

In declining to grant the Trustee status as a complainant, the ABCA held that the case management judge failed to appreciate the collective nature of the role of the trustee in bankruptcy. The Trustee was not purporting to bring the oppression action on behalf of individual creditors, but on behalf of the entire estate of Perpetual/Sequoia. As the ABCA noted, by definition, the Trustee represents all creditors of the bankrupt, and the aggregate claims in a bankruptcy always consist of a number of individual claims.

Importantly, the ABCA confirmed prior jurisprudence establishing that oppression claims are not to be used as a method of debt collection; the mere fact that a corporation does not or cannot pay its debts as they come due does not amount to oppression. However, as the ABCA clarified, the Trustee was not asserting that Perpetual/Sequoia could not simply pay a debt. The Trustees allegation was that Perpetual/Sequoia had been reorganized in such a way that it had been rendered unable to pay its debts. The Trustee alleged that the Asset Transaction was unfairly prejudicial to the creditors of Perpetual/Sequoia.

Whether the Trustee will be able to prove this claim remains to be seen, but the ABCA held that the oppression claim ought not to have been summarily dismissed. Noting the complexity of the issues raised by the Trustee, the ABCA determined that the oppression claim should be restored and the Trustee granted complainant status to pursue such claim if it so wished.

The scope of directors duties

Without deciding the issue, the ABCA highlighted that a director may potentially owe an obligation to ensure that the corporation complies with its environmental obligations. Such obligation is currently potential and ill-defined, and could be owed to the public, not necessarily to the corporation exclusively. The ABCA emphasized that the Trustee sought to hold Ms. Rose to account for allegedly having structured the affairs of Perpetual/Sequoia in such a way that made it impossible for Perpetual/Sequoia to discharge its public obligations. This was a novel claim that should not have been resolved summarily.

The ABCA observed that generalized releases of directors (which are commonly used in change of control situations) may not cover a directors potential obligation regarding environmental liabilities. Since this obligation may be owed to the public, private parties may not be able to release a director from it.

The ABCA also emphasized that there is no change in a directors duties when a director is acting for a special purpose corporation or wholly owned subsidiary: a director must always act in the best interest of the corporation. As sole director, Ms. Rose was responsible for ensuring that the Asset Transaction was in the best interests of Perpetual/Sequoia: if Ms. Rose did not agree that the instructions [from Perpetual Energy Parent] were in the best interests of Perpetual/Sequoia, her obligation was to resign. At this stage, it was inappropriate to strike or dismiss the Trustees claim for breach of directors duties.

Finally, this decision suggests that directors and officers should take care to evaluate separately all steps involved in multi-step transactions, which are often used for tax planning purposes. Although it has long been accepted that a taxpayer can structure its affairs to reduce tax liability, that concept does not apply to Section 96 of the BIA. When addressing the Trustees claim that the Asset Transaction was void pursuant to Section 96, the Perpetual Energy Group argued that the Asset Transaction should be analyzed only as a component of the overall Aggregate Transaction which was, writ large, an arms-length transaction and not voidable under Section 96. However, the ABCA indicated a willingness to analyze the transactions on a step-by-step basis, and not in the aggregate. The ABCA observed that if a transaction is entered into in violation of Section 96, it is no defence that it was connected to a number of other transactions that did not engage Section 96 at all. The ABCA did not determine whether an oil and gas company can arrange its affairs so as to avoid regulatory scrutiny, in a manner that is analogous to income tax law. Redwater does not provide an answer on this point and this type of novel issue must be tested at trial.

The scope of the duties of a trustee

The case management judge heard a subsequent application by Ms. Rose for enhanced costs and concluded that the Trustee should pay 85% of Ms. Roses solicitor and client costs and that the Trustee should be personally liable for those costs. The case management judge made that determination on the basis that the Trustee, as an officer of the court, should be held to a higher standard than normal litigants. Such higher standard required the Trustee to comply with principles of procedural fairness; comply with duties imposed by the courts of equity on trustees in general (that is, not trustees in bankruptcy); present facts to the court without opinions, argument or evidence; and complete an appropriate investigation prior to commencing litigation. The case management judge concluded that in failing to meet those higher standards, the Trustees conduct was egregious and the Trustee exercised very poor judgment that equate to positive misconduct.

Overturning the case management judge, the ABCA found that there was nothing egregious about the Trustees conduct, that the criticisms levied by the case management judge against the Trustee were unwarranted, and that the case management judge had made errors both in principle and in law in awarding costs against the Trustee. Most importantly, the ABCA affirmed that while a trustee in bankruptcy is an officer of the court, a trustee in bankruptcys primary duty is to the creditors of the estate through the inspectors. A trustee in bankruptcy does not owe duties to potential defendants in estate litigation, and in fact would be placed in a conflict of interest if it was also under a legal duty to third parties. As the ABCA noted, a trustee in bankruptcy is not an administrative tribunal, and the principles of administrative law have no application in civil commercial matters. As a result, the Trustee had no obligation to hear the defendants views before pursuing litigation or provide the defendants with advance notice of a statement of claim.

Furthermore, as the ABCA noted, a trustee in bankruptcys position and exercise of judgment could require it to take an adversarial role in litigation. Once the Trustee came to the conclusion that Perpetual/Sequoia had potential claims against various defendants, the Trustee was not only correct to pursue those claims but obliged to do so.

Overall, the ABCA judgment strongly affirms a trustee in bankruptcys duty to creditors and its obligation to exercise its own judgment, under the supervision of inspectors, for the benefit of the bankrupt estate. In pursuing this duty, a trustee is not burdened by administrative law obligations and has no generalized duty of fairness to third parties.

PricewaterhouseCoopers Inc v Perpetual Energy Inc, 2021 ABQB 2

Prior to the release of the ABCAs decision, the case management judge released a further decision on the merits of the Section 96 Claim on January 14, 2021, in PricewaterhouseCoopers Inc v Perpetual Energy Inc, 2021 ABQB 2. In this decision, the Alberta Court of Queens Bench (the ABQB) found that Perpetual/Sequoia was not insolvent at the time of the Asset Transaction or rendered insolvent by the Asset Transaction. Underpinning this finding was the assertion that AROs should be valued at nil for the purposes of the BIA. As the ABCA has now unequivocally rejected this view, thereby undermining the foundation of the ABQB decision, the ABCA may have a further opportunity to revisit these issues in short order.

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Sequoia Resources: Environmental obligations and the role of the trustee in bankruptcy - Lexology

NRA says strongest financial position ‘in years’ despite filing for bankruptcy. Here’s why – Fox Business

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The National Rifle Association (NRA) touted that it's in its bestfinancial position in years, despite declaringbankruptcyearlier this month.

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The nations most politically influential gun-rights advocacy groupannounced on Jan. 15 that it was seeking relief in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division. However, the NRA has said it is looking to re-incorporate in Texas from New York where it has beenincorporated for 150 years. The group's longtime home state has filed a lawsuit to dissolve the organization.

According to a note on the NRA's website,however, the group isn't under financial constraints at all.

"Is the NRA going bankrupt? aQ&Asection on the gun lobbying group's website read.

The NRA's response: "No. In fact, this move comes at a time when the NRA is in its strongest financial condition in years."The group continued,saying "the NRA is not insolvent."

The NRA's website alluded to the fact that its decision to file had nothing to do with its financial position at all, but instead the result of a lawsuit against them from the state of New York.

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"This action is necessitated primarily by one thing: the unhinged and political attack against the NRA by the New York Attorney General," the NRA's website reads.

In August, New York Attorney General Letitia Jamessued the organization over claims that top executives illegally diverted tens of millions of dollars for lavish personal trips, no-show contracts for associates and other questionable expenditures.

Letitia James, New York's attorney general, speaks during a news conference in New York on Aug. 6, 2020. (Photographer: Peter Foley/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The suithighlighted misspending and self-dealing claims that have roiled the NRA and its longtime leader, Wayne LaPierre, in recent years from hair and makeup for his wife to a $17 million post-employment contract for himself.

James said the group had been "failing to carry out its stated mission" for many years and rather"operated as a breeding ground for greed, abuse and brazen illegality."

NRA FILES FOR BANKRUPTCY, ANNOUNCES IT'S DITCHING NEW YORK FOR TEXAS

Meanwhile, NRA President Carolyn Meadows had labeled James a political opportunist who was pursuing a rank vendetta with an attack on its members Second Amendment rights.

The move to Texas and the decision to reincorporate as a nonprofit is part of the group's strategic plan called Project Freedom.

The group claims restructuring is a "proven mechanism for streamlining legal and business affairs" and will ensure its "continued success."

By moving to Texas, home to more than 400,000 NRA members, the NRA aims to "streamline costs and expenses" while proceeding "with pending litigation in a coordinated and structured manner."

However,their tactic drew even more criticism from James

The NRAs claimed financial status has finally met its moral status: bankrupt," she said in a statement after their Jan. 15 filing. "While we review this filing, we will not allow the NRA to use this or any other tactic to evade accountability and my offices oversight.

Although the NRA is headquartered in Virginia, the NRA was chartered as a nonprofit in New York in 1871 and is incorporated in the state.

The Associated Press contributed to his report.

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NRA says strongest financial position 'in years' despite filing for bankruptcy. Here's why - Fox Business

Delaware Bankruptcy Court Provides Guidance on the Scope of The Automatic Stay – JD Supra

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On December 3, 2020, the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware entered an opinion in In re Extraction Oil & Gas, Inc., Case No. 20-11548 (CSS), holding that two entities (the State Court Plaintiffs) violated the automatic stay of 11 U.S.C. 362(a) when those entities commenced and prosecuted litigation against non-debtor entities in Colorado state court and entered into a settlement agreement with the non-debtor entities. The Courts opinion provides useful guidance regarding the scope of the automatic stay of 11 U.S.C. 362(a).

Prior to the commencement of the bankruptcy case, the Debtors who were in the business of extracting hydrocarbons from land in Colorado entered into a Transportation Services Agreement (TSA) with the State Court Plaintiffs. The Debtors TSA with the State Court Plaintiffs required, among other things, that the Debtors ship a minimum volume of oil using the State Court Plaintiffs pipelines or make cash payments to the State Court Plaintiffs if the Debtors failed to do so.

Post-petition, the Debtors moved to reject the TSA and engaged alternative service providers (the Alternative Service Providers) to transport the Debtors oil. Asserting that the Debtors actions would cause irreparable harm, the State Court Plaintiffs commenced the Colorado state court action against the Alternative Service Providers, but not the Debtors, and sought a temporary restraining order against those entities. The Court in the Colorado state court action granted the State Court Plaintiffs request for a temporary restraining order, requiring the Alternative Service Providers to cease all diversion and transport of crude oil from the Extraction wells. Thereafter, the State Court Plaintiffs and the Alternative Service Providers entered into a settlement agreement (the Settlement Agreement) in which the Alternative Service Providers agreed to, among other things, not receive oil from certain locations identified in the Colorado state court litigation.

In the bankruptcy case, the Debtors moved the Court for an order finding that the State Court Plaintiffs commencement of the Colorado state court action and entry into the Settlement Agreement violated the automatic stay of 11 U.S.C. 362(a). In response, the State Court Plaintiffs argued that the Debtors were impermissibly seeking to extend the automatic stay of 11 U.S.C. 362(a) to non-debtors as they commenced the Colorado state court action against the Alternative Service Providers, not the Debtors.

The Court disagreed with the State Court Plaintiffs. The Court explained that 11 U.S.C. 362(a)(3) prohibits any act to obtain possession of property of the estate or to exercise control over property of the estate. The Court further explained that the Debtors contractual and business relationships with the Alternative Service Providers are property of the Debtors bankruptcy estates. The Court then found that the State Court Plaintiffs attempted to exercise control over of the Debtors contractual and business relationships with the Alternative Service Providers through their prosecution of the Colorado state court action and entry into the Settlement Agreement. As such, the State Court Plaintiffs violated the automatic stay of 11 U.S.C. 362(a) despite the fact that they had commenced the Colorado state court action against the Alternative Service Providers and not the Debtors.

The key takeaway from the Courts decision is that a creditor may violate the automatic stay of 11 U.S.C. 362(a) even where it commences an action against an entity other than a debtor in bankruptcy. Indeed, the relevant inquiry for the Court was not whether the State Court Plaintiffs had taken action against the Debtors, but rather whether the State Court Plaintiffs sought to exercise control over property of the Debtors bankruptcy estates.

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Delaware Bankruptcy Court Provides Guidance on the Scope of The Automatic Stay - JD Supra

AMC Theatres raises nearly $1 billion and avoids ‘imminent’ bankruptcy – Sunbury Daily Item

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By Kevin Hardy

The Kansas City Star

AMC Theatres says it has raised nearly $1 billion in recent weeks a sum that should help the struggling movie theater chain avoid filing for bankruptcy protection.

The Leawood, Kan.-chain announced Monday that it had raised $917 million in new equity and debt financing. In a news release, AMC CEO and President Adam Aron said the sun is shining on AMC.

This means that any talk of an imminent bankruptcy for AMC is completely off the table, his statement said.

AMC operates movie theaters in Hummels Wharf, Williamsport and Bloomsburg.

In October, AMC warned investors it could run out of cash by the beginning of 2021. Movie theaters have been hit particularly hard by the pandemic, as both consumer demand has sunk and studios have limited the release of new films.

AMC, the worlds largest movie theater chain, said its latest infusion of cash should allow the company to make it through this dark coronavirus-impacted winter.

Still, the future remains uncertain: AMC lost money in 2017 and 2019, carried more than $4 billion in debt and had little cash on hand going into the pandemic. And its unclear how many consumers will go back to movie theaters after the pandemic is under control, particularly as Hollywood has more quickly moved content directly to streaming services.

One expert predicts as many as a quarter of the 7,800 movie theaters in the United States could close because of the pandemic.

Liberty, Mo.-based B&B Theatres, a family owned chain, also has publicly acknowledged the possibility of a bankruptcy restructuring,

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, AMC acknowledged that its survival is still dependent on future consumer traffic.

AMC says its latest fundraising should keep the chain alive through July 2021 if theater attendance does not improve. If attendance increases and the chain can obtain more rent concessions from landlords, it could have enough cash to operate through the end of 2021, the filing said.

Looking ahead, for AMC to succeed over the medium term, we are going to need for much of the general public in the U.S. and abroad to be vaccinated, Aron said in Mondays news release. To that end, we are grateful to the worlds medical communities for their heroic efforts to thwart the COVID virus. Similarly, we welcome the commitment by the new Biden administration and of other governments domestically and internationally to a broad-based vaccination program.

We are making critical coverage of the coronavirus available for free. Please consider subscribing so we can continue to bring you the latest news and information on this developing story.

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AMC Theatres raises nearly $1 billion and avoids 'imminent' bankruptcy - Sunbury Daily Item

UWS LOccitane Closes Amid Bankruptcy After 30 Years Of Service – Upper West Side, NY Patch

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UPPER WEST SIDE, NY The Upper West Side recently lost another retail store, as the body, face, fragrance, and home retailer L'Occintane shuttered its Columbus location over the past week.

L'Occitane on Columbus Avenue and 69th Street had occupied the space for 31 years, becoming a staple of the neighborhood and earning a cameo in the 1998 film "You've Got Mail."

The L'Occitane at 75th and Broadway also looks to be closing soon. The store was shuttered over the weekend with no inventory in the retailer and a sign on the store window directing customers to its Columbus Circle location.

The closings come days after L'Occitane filed for bankruptcy.

L'Occtitane mentioned in the filings a 56 percent decrease in revenue from April to December 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and that landlords have been reluctant to negotiate new leases given the current circumstances.

L'Occitane management intends to "reject certain leases in order to right-size its brick-and-mortar footprint to better position itself for long-term success," according to the filing.

The Columbus location was one of these leases rejected and it looks like the Broadway lease isn't far behind.

Additionally, the L'Occitane on Broadway was sued for back rent in December by its landlord. The lawsuit claimed that pay its $62,000 per month rent between April and December.

While the Upper West Side looks like it's losing two L'Occitane locations, at least one will remain within the Shops at Columbus Circle.

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UWS LOccitane Closes Amid Bankruptcy After 30 Years Of Service - Upper West Side, NY Patch

Party leaders spar over how to handle N.L. looming bankruptcy at leaders debate – The Globe and Mail

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The dismal financial outlook in Newfoundland and Labrador was centre stage in an election debate Wednesday night, with party leaders sparring over what to do about the provinces massive debt and spending problems.

Liberal Leader and incumbent Premier Andrew Furey said he disliked how his opponent uses the term bankruptcy to define the provinces fiscal troubles. By using that word on the campaign trail, Progressive Conservative Leader Ches Crosbie was already waving the flag of defeat, Furey said.

Mr. Crosbie is campaigning to be the last premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, the Premier added.

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The Tory leader hit back: Im a straight shooter. And thats why I use words like bankrupt, because it cuts to the heart of the matter.

With a net debt of $16.4-billion, the Atlantic province of about 520,000 people has the highest debt-to-GDP ratio in the country. Debt-servicing costs are the provinces second-largest expense after health care. Experts say with no sign of resuscitation in the local offshore oil industry, those costs will only get worse if drastic measures arent taken.

The debate gave voters a look at Fureys fiscal priorities after a Liberal campaign defined largely by low-stakes announcements about community gardens and programs to unite youth and seniors.

Furey repeatedly brought up the troubled Muskrat Falls hydroelectric project, whose costs essentially doubled to $13.1-billion since it was given the green light in 2012 under a previous Tory government. Without a change in course, electricity rates in the province could also double, in order to pay for the project.

We have to deal with Muskrat Falls first, Furey insisted as he defended himself against attacks from Crosbie, who said Furey didnt know how to get the province out of its fiscal hole. Furey touted the recent deal hed struck with Ottawa, allowing the province to defer $840 million in financing payments for the project, emphasizing that talks with the federal government about the staggering costs and burden of the ill-fated project had only just begun.

These are all the things Ive brought to the table in the first five months gimme four years, he said.

The Liberal leader also had to fend off accusations from NDP Leader Alison Coffin, who said he wasnt willing to make the right investments to help struggling voters escape poverty.

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Furey said no magic bullet is going to fix Newfoundland and Labradors financial mess. He didnt give specific details on how he would pull the province out of debt, but said mass layoffs arent the answer.

We didnt get into these fiscal issue because of the hard work of nurses, Furey said.

Well Im glad to hear we wont be cutting, Coffin told Furey. But, she added, the province should be spending more on public sector employees like nurses and paramedics. Front-line health-care workers are overworked and stressed out, Coffin said, adding that they need more support, not less.

Furey, who was an orthopedic surgeon before he became premier in August, reminded his colleagues that he was the only one in the room who had direct experience working alongside overburdened health-care workers.

Coffin also called for a $15 minimum wage and dismissed Fureys suggestion that raising the minimum wage would make the province uncompetitive. We dont want to be known as the place where you can come and get cheap labour, she said.

Crosbie, meanwhile, said he wanted to go over the provinces expenditures line by line to cut waste. But thats only half of what is required, he said, adding that the province needs to increase economic growth.

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With just 10 days left before the Feb. 13 vote, only one party the NDP had released a platform by Wednesday night. The Liberals and Progressive Conservatives have said they will release their platforms this week, though neither provided an exact date.

Heading into the election, the Liberals held 19 of the legislatures 40 seats, the Progressive Conservatives held 15 seats, the NDP had three and there were three Independents.

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Belk plans to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, but stores will remain open – OBXToday.com

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Photo courtesy Belk

The Belk department store chain announced this week it will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and enter into a restructuring agreement with majority owner Sycamore Partners.

Stores will remain open and Belk plans to continue normal operations throughout the process, the company said in a news release.

Customers will continue to receive the quality merchandise and service they expect when shopping at Belks stores across the southeast and online, the release said. The infusion of new capital is expected to support Belks continued investment in strategic initiatives, including delivering a seamless omnichannel shopping experience and expanding Belks product offerings in Home Goods, Outdoor and Wellness.

The Charlotte-based company said it has received financing commitments for $225 million in new capital from Sycamore, KKR and Blackstone, along with some of its existing lenders, CNBC reported.

Belk, which opened its first store in 1888, hopes to exit Chapter 11 bankruptcy by the end of February. Belk has an Outer Banks store in the Dare Centre in Kill Devil Hills.

Belk has a 130-year legacy of providing quality products at great prices, saidLisa Harper, Belk CEO. Like all retailers navigating COVID-19, our priority has been the safety of our associates, customers and communities. As the ongoing effects of the pandemic have continued, weve been assessing potential options to protect our future.

Were confident that this agreement puts us on the right long-term path toward significantly reducing our debt and providing us with greater financial flexibility to meet our obligations and to continue investing in our business, including further enhancements and additions to Belks omnichannel capabilities.

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Belk plans to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, but stores will remain open - OBXToday.com

UVA Honors Distinguished Researchers at Virtual Awards Event – University of Virginia

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On Friday during a virtual ceremony over Zoom, the University of Virginia honored and recognized faculty members for their outstanding contributions to their fields and the impact of their research and scholarly activities at the annual Research Achievement Awards.

Although it was a challenging year for researchers, we are proud of our facultys achievements and accomplishments, Melur Ram Ramasubramanian, UVAs vice president for research, said. We believe its important to celebrate our faculty who are making a significant impact on the world with their research and scholarship.

Our dedicated and talented researchers are deeply committed to the mission of this universityadvancing knowledge and passing it on to the world and the next generation, Provost Liz Magill said. The Research Achievement Awards are a great way to recognize our researchers for making meaningful contributions in their disciplines, supporting their peers and mentees, and having a positive impact on our communities.

If this past year has taught us anything, its that academic research is a fundamental part of a successful society, fueling discoveries in medicine, breakthroughs in engineering, and changing the way we think about and respond to the natural and social world, President Jim Ryan said. The research award winners truly exemplify the high-quality scholarship that makes UVA a leading research institution.

Ken Ono, Thomas Jefferson Professor of Mathematics, delivered the keynote address, and received a Distinguished Spotlight Award to recognize his contribution to the field of mathematics. He has won Sloan, Packard and Guggenheim fellowships, and in 2020 Academic Influence named him one of the top 20 most influential mathematicians of the past decade.

Prasanna V. Balachandran,School of Engineering and Applied Science

Balachandrans research focuses on materials informatics, an emerging field of materials science research. He has tackled several problems of materials science, including thermal management, nanoelectronics materials and the design of coatings for use in extreme environments.

Computational Materials Science Journal recognized Balachandran as a Rising Star in Computational Materials Science, and he was also a recipient of the DARPA Young Faculty Award in 2020.

Balachandrons knowledge in the application of artificial intelligence and density functional theory calculations to address grand challenge problems in the field of materials science and engineering makes him one of the foremost experts in the discipline, said Jacob L. Jones of North Carolina State Universitys College of Engineering,.

L. Ilse Cleeves,College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences

Cleeves is rapidly developing into one of the worlds leading experts in theoretical astrochemistry and its applications to newly forming and formed planets. Her research has focused on understanding the molecular and physical origins of planetary systems, getting closer to answering questions about whether life on planets was aided by organic materials delivered to planets as they formed or afterward.

Cleeves received the 2018 American Astronomical Societys Annie Jump Cannon Award, given for outstanding research by a young North American female astronomer, and recently earned a prestigious Packard Fellowship and a Johnson & Johnson WiSTEM2D award.

Cleeves is a brilliant and very productive scientist who is making very important contributions to our understanding of astrochemistry and the origin of planets, said Craig L. Sarazin, chair of UVAs Department of Astronomy.

Chongzhi Zang,School of Medicine

Zangs research focuses on developing computational models and algorithms for analyzing data from cutting-edge technologies, and on using data science to study the epigenetics in human diseases, primarily cancer. He has developed bioinformatics tools including SICER, a ChIP-sequencing analysis tool, and BART, a big-data transcriptional regulator prediction tool. Both are used widely in the research community.

His research is both data-driven and translational, as it focuses on human cancer systems, a passion developed during his Ph.D. and postdoctoral training experiences and continuing as a productive, innovative computational scientist, Stephen Rich of the UVA School of Medicine said. Chongzhi has made remarkable and groundbreaking contributions to the studies of chromatin epigenetics and transcriptional regulation in cancer.

William A. Petri Jr.,School of Medicine

Petris research is on the role of the immune system in infections, and has been largely focused on intestinal infections like C. difficile colitis and their consequences in children in the developing world. In 2020, Petri stepped forward to provide regular updates on new developments in COVID-19 virology, immunology, treatment, vaccines and pandemic control, locally as well as globally. His research extended to include vaccine improvements and a monoclonal antibody trial to help prevent infection and progression of COVID-19.

His many awards include an NIH MERIT Award, Virginia Outstanding Scientist and Inventor of the Year, and he recently was selected to receive the 2021 National Foundation for Infectious Diseases Maxwell Finland Award.

Petri is richly deserving of this prestigious award for his international leadership in the study of diarrheal infections, a leading cause of death of children in the developing world, said Upinder Singh, division chief of Infectious Diseases and Geographic Medicine at Stanford University. There is no one who is more innovative or made greater advances in this key area of study.

Kodi S. Ravichandran,School of Medicine

Ravichandrans research focuses on cell clearance, or how the body turns over billions of cells every day. He looks at how this process affects human health and disease. His work has led him to work on problems with inflammatory illnesses like rheumatoid arthritis.

As chair of the Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Cancer Biology, he frequently collaborates with other faculty members. His work has led to a long publication list, including 12 papers in the prestigious journal Nature.

Ravichandrans discoveries have transformed the field and their impacts have been immense, both from a fundamental biological science perspective and from the perspective of understanding disease pathogenesis in many and varied contexts, said Christopher Gregory, director of the University of Edinburgh Centre for Inflammation Research. In this respect his work underpins future translation of the field into clinical care with, ultimately, invaluable societal impact.

Xiaodong (Chris) Li,School of Engineering and Applied Science

Lis research spans advanced manufacturing, materials and mechanics. He has created several new areas of study that have made a significant impact.

Lis manufacturing innovations include deploying a variety of monitoring techniques to catch defects and correct them in real time using digital sensors. Li together with his collaborators created an entirely new area digital image correlation-enabled smart manufacturing, which has been used worldwide in academia, research labs and industry and has made a significant impact economically, Scott Mao of the University of Pittsburghs Swanson School of Engineering said.

Li also developed ways to make manufacturing processes environmentally friendly by using organic matter like banana peels as fuel.

His work in materials includes developing a strong, lightweight, heat-resistant metallic composite by mimicking the structure of mollusk shells, and turning a cotton T-shirt into a wearable capacitor. Li also designed nanoparticles for a specialized drug delivery method to help cancer patients.

Joseph Hart,School of Education & Human Development; David Diduch,School of Medicine; Mark Miller,School of Medicine; Stephen Brockmeier,School of Medicine; Brian Werner,School of Medicine; F. Winston Gwathmey,School of Medicine

The interdisciplinary research team, comprised of kinesiology professor Hart and orthopedic surgeons Diduch, Miller, Brockmeier, Werner and Gwathmey, bridges the clinic and the laboratory with its Lower Extremity Assessment Program.

More than 700 patients recovering from knee surgery have done functional performance tests in the Department of Kinesiologys Exercise & Sport Injury Lab. The results from these tests help surgeons decide when their patients are ready to return to normal activities, but also serve as a research database. Now one of the largest sports medicine databases, the work has made a real difference in improving patient outcomes.

The team has made substantial advances in the understanding of the recovery of patients recovering from ACL reconstructive surgery, said Jay Hertel, chair of the Department of Kinesiology. This new knowledge has impacted clinical practice in many sports medicine disciplines including orthopedics, physical therapy and athletic training.

John A. Stankovic,School of Engineering and Applied Science

Stankovic is the BP America Professor of Computer Science and directs UVA Engineerings Link Lab for cyber-physical systems. Over the course of his career, Stankovic has mentored many junior faculty members. In addition to offering guidance on research ideas and proposal-writing techniques, he has often invited mentees to team with him on his own grant proposals. Stankovic has directed over 42 Ph.D. students to completion; many have gone on to become professors.

He is a role model, inspiring others by his contributions in the field of computer science and his research leadership in the areas of real-time systems, distributed computing, wireless sensor networks, wireless health and cyber-physical systems. Stankovic is an IEEE Life Fellow and ACM Fellow. He has an h-index of 119 and more than 66,000 citations.

Faculty members who nominated him wrote: Professor Stankovic has been a great faculty mentor who not only inspires us to become better researchers, but also provides extraordinary efforts to help us grow.

Christine Mahoney,Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy

Mahoneys research focuses on how nongovernmental organizations and governments at the local, national and global levels attempt to fight for the rights of refugees fleeing their homelands because of ethnic and political violence. Her scholarship in global advocacy uses social entrepreneurship to support the rights of the displaced. Her work has led to the creation of the Refugee Investment Network, a non-profit impact investing collaborative which creates solutions to forced migration around the globe.

Mahoney also does community public interest research in the local community. She collaborates with the New Hill Development Corporation to help end racial disparities by expanding and strengthening the African American middle class. The project uses a community engagement process, and has fostered partnerships in Charlottesville and around Virginia.

Christine has brought the research excellence of the University of Virginia to support an under-resourced segment of the Charlottesville population, said Yolunda Harrell, the CEO of New Hill Development Corporation.

Watch the award winners accept their awards.

The following researchers were also honored for their contributions in 2020 and invited to attend the event:

School of Architecture

College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences

Biocomplexity Institute

Darden School of Business

Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy

McIntire School of Commerce

Provost Office

School of Data Science

School of Education and Human Development

School of Engineering and Applied Science

School of Law

School of Medicine

School of Nursing

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UVA Honors Distinguished Researchers at Virtual Awards Event - University of Virginia

Why Tesla Stock Could Be Headed to $1,200 – Motley Fool

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If you're concerned that Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) stock's recent wild run higher isn't sustainable, here's a counterargument for you. One analyst said this week that there's plenty of excitement ahead for Tesla. Indeed, shares could rise to $1,200 over the next twelve months, he predicts. That would translate to an incredible 43% gain from the stock's closing price on Monday.

How could Tesla stock be worth that much? It boils down to some enormous long-term expectations for the company'ss growth and profitability.

Let's take a closer look.

Model S and X. Image source: The Motley Fool.

Piper Sandler analyst Alexander Potter boosted his 12-month price target from $515 to $1,200 on Monday, reiterating a buy rating for the growth stock.

This price target is backed by some lofty expectations, including a forecast for Tesla's annual vehicle deliveries to rise from about 500,000 last year to 894,000 this year and 5 million by 2024. By 2030, annual deliveries could climb to about 9 million.

Sandler is betting on nothing short of an electric vehicle revolution.

But what's perhaps even more startling is Potter's forecasts for Tesla's free cash flow, or the company's cold, hard cash left over after all operating expenses and capital investments are taken care of. He sees Tesla generating nearly $37 billion of free cash flow annually by 2025, up from $2.8 billion today. Highlighting how significant $37 billion of free cash flow is, Facebook's 2020 free cash flow was $23 billion. Microsoft's annual free cash flow is about $50 billion.

Getting to this kind of free cash flow, however, will require success across all of Tesla's businesses, including energy storage, vehicle software sales, solar, and more.

Investors, of course, would be wise to eye Potter's projections skeptically. Sure, Tesla is growing quickly and expanding its manufacturing capacity rapidly. In addition, energy storage sales are soaring. But it may be too early to bet on such rosy five and 10-year forecasts.

Tesla factory. Image source: The Motley Fool.

While it's impossible to know whether Tesla will be able to live up to Potter's wildly optimistic vision for the company, one thing is clear: the electric-car maker's 2021 performance is key to the company's growth story. Thanks to ongoing manufacturing capacity expansion at the company's factories in China, Germany, and Texas, management believes vehicle deliveries can grow more than 50% this year -- an acceleration from the 36% growth Tesla achieved in 2020. If Tesla can do this while simultaneously ending the year with enough production capacity for another year of approximately 50% growth in 2022, then Potter's vehicle sales projections might start to look more realistic.

But investors will need more than manufacturing execution in 2021 to justify a $1,200 price tag. Tesla will need to start demonstrating substantial progress toward enabling its vehicles to drive themselves. If the electric-car maker can pull off autonomous driving, its vehicle software could command an incredible price tag and -- more importantly -- provide Tesla with a high-margin revenue stream.

While Potter's borderline-euphoric boldness about Tesla's future should raise eyebrows, it also serves as a starting point to think bigger. Is it possible that most investors are still underestimating Tesla, even after the stock's astronomical 900% gain since the beginning of 2020? Or is Potter's view too speculative to take seriously?

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Why Tesla Stock Could Be Headed to $1,200 - Motley Fool

Tesla’s Profits Are Not From Selling Cars – The Motley Fool

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Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) is a car company worth over $800 billion that has never turned a profit selling cars. Despite a cult following and intense brand loyalty, Tesla has been unable to wring any profits out of the half a million cars it now sells annually.

To be clear, Tesla did report a profit for 2020, under generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), marking the company's first full year of profitability. But that profit did not come from the core business of manufacturing cars. Tesla booked a whopping $1.58 billion of revenue from selling regulatory credits last year, more than the previous three years combined. Tesla's net income of $721 million in 2020 turns into a substantial loss if those regulatory credit sales are backed out.

Image source: Tesla.

Certain U.S. states award regulatory credits to automakers for selling electric vehicles. Automakers must acquire a minimum number of these credits to comply with regulatory requirements. These credits can be bought and sold, so an automaker that doesn't sell enough electric vehicles can buy credits from other automakers that do.

This regulatory credit system is an attempt by governments to encourage electric vehicle production and reduce emissions. It's ended up essentially subsidizing Tesla's money-losing car operation. Since Tesla only produces electric cars, it's able to sell reams of credits to other automakers that are unwilling or unable to produce enough electric cars.

It should be obvious that this situation is not going to last forever. Automakers are aggressively ramping up their electric vehicle efforts, and there's little reason to believe that Tesla has any real advantage beyond its brand. One example: General Motors is pouring billions into its electric vehicle efforts, with plans for dozens of models over the next few years. GM also recently unveiled a new commercial electric vehicle brand, and it already has delivery giant FedEx as a customer.

This regulatory credit windfall for Tesla will start to vanish as other automakers ramp up their electric vehicle sales. Tesla will then need to figure out how to profitably manufacture cars.

Tesla's valuation of more than $800 billion is quadruple that of Toyota. Toyota sold nearly 10 million cars in 2020, compared to half a million for Tesla.

I would argue that it probably won't matter how well Tesla does over the coming years because the valuation is so extreme that a positive result for investors would require absolutely everything to go right. The company can do well, even very well, and the stock could still fall apart.

Here's an example from the dot-com bubble. Cisco Systems stock hit an all-time high around $80 in early 2000. The networking hardware company was valued at nearly $550 billion at its peak.

Today, Cisco is the dominant provider of enterprise networking hardware. The company's share of the enterprise switch market hovers around 50% despite no shortage of low-cost competition. Cisco's revenue has soared from about $19 billion in 2000 to nearly $50 billion today. Net income has shot up from $2.7 billion to over $11 billion. Cisco the company has been an unquestionable success story.

Cisco the stock, on the other hand, has been an unmitigated disaster. If you bought Cisco stock at its peak, you're down over 40% more than 20 years later. The company is worth around $200 billion today. You were right about the company, but very wrong about the stock.

Tesla the company doing well in the long run does not in any way guarantee that Tesla the stock does well. You can be right about Tesla becoming a top automaker and still lose your shirt investing in the stock. Even if Tesla does wean itself off regulatory credits and starts manufacturing millions of cars annually at a profit, the valuation is so deep into the stratosphere that it may not even matter.

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Tesla's Profits Are Not From Selling Cars - The Motley Fool

Tesla and University of the Pacific team up to generate more solar energy on campus – FOX40

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STOCKTON, Calif. (KTXL) The University of the Pacific will soon be known for another color besides their traditional orange and black their Stockton campus is going green.

The more we can use these renewable energy sources, the more we can reduce that so-called carbon footprint and contribute, I think, to a better environment, said UOP President Christopher Callahan.

Callahan announced a new solar initiative that will make Pacific number two in the country in renewable energy among college campuses.

This is a fantastic partnership between the University of the Pacific and Tesla, he said.

Solar canopies are being constructed in eight of the universitys parking lots across the 175-acre campus.

Once installed, the solar panels will generate more than 30% of UOPs energy needs.

By producing our own energy in this partnership with Tesla, our electric bills will go down and down and down, Callahan explained. And in the out years, were projecting savings of more than a million dollars a year. So, that is quite significant, especially as we try to keep tuition rates as low as possible.

According to the university, a project this size is the equivalent of removing more than a thousand cars from the road every year and averting more than 5,000 metric tons of greenhouse gases a year.

The project also includes the installation of at least 16 Tesla electric charging stations.

Callahan said the solar project shows how seriously Pacific is taking sustainability.

This notion of focusing on the future of our environment, were serious about it, he said. Were actually doing things to try to achieve that and trying to lead really through action, as opposed to just leading through words.

The university estimates construction of the solar canopies will wrap up by the end of the year and hopes to have the power online within a year.

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Tesla and University of the Pacific team up to generate more solar energy on campus - FOX40

Rivian R1T, Tesla Cybertruck: The Disruption Of The Pickup Truck Market – InsideEVs

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This article comes to us courtesy ofEVANNEX, which makes and sells aftermarket Tesla accessories. The opinions expressed therein are not necessarily our own at InsideEVs, nor have we been paid byEVANNEXto publish these articles. We find the company's perspective as an aftermarket supplier of Tesla accessories interesting and are happy to share its content free of charge. Enjoy!

Posted onEVANNEX February 03, 2021byCharles Morris

2020, for all its faults, was a year full of milestones for the electric vehicle transition, but 2021 promises to hold even more. What will be the biggest Tesla- or EV-related happenings of this pivotal year? Who better to ask than Zac and Jesse Cataldo, a father-and-son team who preside overan empire of YouTube channelsfocused on sustainable energy and transportation?

As we mentioned inanother recent article, Zac and Jesse produce several weekly YouTube shows, including Tesla Time News, and they have an archive of over 1,000 videos, covering all kinds of Tesla, EV and renewable energy topics. They receive a tremendous number of questions and comments from viewers every week, so theyre closely in touch with the grass roots, and especially qualified to make some forecasts about whats going to grab the spotlight this year.

I wasnt surprised when Zac told me thatelectric pickup truckswill be one of the hottest topics of 2021, but a couple of his insights about the details were unexpected. For one thing, he expects charging infrastructure to be one of the factors that determine which brands will take the lead in the crowded pickup field.

TheRivian R1T electric pickup truckis scheduled to hit the streets in June, and Zac and Jesse have one on order. Rivian, if they can pull it off, will have beaten pretty much everyone to the electric pickup truck game, Zac told me. Itll be very interesting to see if they can handle the charging infrastructure. I have no doubt, having watched their truck evolving, that its going to be a really cool truck. But I think the Tesla Supercharging network is one of Teslas amazing assets.

Until youve experienced the Supercharger network, you dont really understand how awesome electric cars can be. And I know this first-hand, because Jesse and I have been on road trips all across the US, and across Europe, and using EVgo or Electrify America, [or IONITY in Europe], not to say you cant do it, but its a completely different experience than driving a Tesla using the Supercharger network. So, when Rivian comes out, we really want to test it out and see if you can drive up into the mountains and do everything fun you want to do in a Rivian, and be able to get there and charge it easily.

Rivian [has been] talking about itsAdventure Network. But are they going to partner with somebody? Where are these chargers going to go? Whats the rollout going to be? Because it could make or break their company. I know that its a very Lake Tahoe kind of vehicle, and I know that theyre probably going to cover Lake Tahoe in chargers, and there will be particular placesZion National Park or Yosemitebut are they going to get everywhere? Tesla had times when they didnt have good coverage in places, but now Im looking at their updated map, and theyre saying in Q2 theres going to be two Superchargers within 20 miles of where I live. And theyre also going into places that have never had any EV infrastructure, like way up in New Hampshire and places where youre usually worried about heading to, because you dont see any red dots on the map.

Im going through this weird dilemmaIve got a Model X, and I was thinking of selling it because were getting the Rivian. But will I be able to do all the things I can do in my Model X? I can just hop in it right now and go anywhere and not even think about it. So, thats what we want to tell our viewersif you get a Rivian, as fun as it might be, will you be able to go wherever you want? Because until you get EVs to do that, which is what Tesla has done, then you are still living in this world of worry and anxiety, and that is not the future of EVs.

The Tesla Cybertruck will surely be one of the most eagerly awaited new products this year, but many people thinkits unorthodox lookswill limit its appeal to mainstream truck buyers. Zac begs to differ.

I think if Elon can pull out all the stops at Giga Texas, and actually get a Cybertruck out by DecemberI dont know if he can do it, but if he can, getting a Cybertruck out in 2021 would be the story of the year, says Zac. I think its going to be a mind-blowing story, because to most of the world, its this kind of science-fiction, crazy-billionaire idea. But Jesse and I were at the unveiling event, we sat in it, we drove in it. Its going to be an amazing truck, and I think that it really appeals to the Ford F-150 and Chevy Silverado driver.

The Rivian, just by its looks, you can tell that its kind of a Land Rovery sort of experience. Its a little bit more luxury, and you can see that in the price too. I think that when Cybertruck rolls off the line and people start getting them, its not the people who have one on reservation that are going to be Teslas biggest customers, even though theres already a million people signed up for it. I think that its going to be the people who see them on the road for the first time.

Above: Zac and Jesse's reaction to the Cybertruck (YouTube:Now You Know)

Weve all seen concept vehicles before, and they always look Wow, I cant wait to drive that thing. Then you get it for real and it doesnt look that way. But Tesla doesnt operate in that fashion. The Model X has the Falcon Wing doors, and the Model 3 looked almost identical to what was unveiled the first time we saw it. I think the same thing will happen with the Cybertruck. Its stainless steelthey cant stamp it to conform it to some shape, so its going to be this stainless steel box thats going to blow every other truck out of the water. I think that theres a huge portion of this country that has completely missed out on EVs, because a Model 3 is not the type of vehicle that most people drive.

Another big story this year will be the start of Model Y production at the German Gigafactory, which will hopefully be up and running by the summer. I think the Model Y got short shrift because of COVID, Zac told me. I think if COVID hadnt hit, the Model Y would be a much bigger story because people would have actually gotten to experience it. Because of COVID, it makes it really difficultyou cant just go hop in your buddys Model Y, so I think fewer people have gotten to experience it.

I think Model Y is actually going to overshadow Model 3. Americans love SUVs. Its a great size vehicle. It can really handle families. It can handle what you need it for, which is to pack it full of stuff, right? And it looks really goodI didnt think that theyd be able to pull off the looks of it quite so well. We just saw the prices drop because they came out with the Standard Range model, and I think when you get down into this price range, when you drop from a $50,000 car down to a $40,000 car, you really broaden the number of people who can afford it. I think a lot more people who thought, I heard about Teslas but theyre expensive luxury cars are actually going to start to say, waitthis is an affordable car.

Will there be further price drops this year? Will Tesla bring Model Y down into the $30,000 range? With thesingle casting, that really is going to lower the cost for them, and I dont know if theyve actually even realized that price differential yet, says Zac. Its possible that when they start actually seeing the results of that, theyll be able to push that [cost reduction] to customers, but I dont think itll be this year. According to Elon, itll happen in Germany first.

Obviously, the election of Joe Biden, whoseenvironmental planforesees a massive shift to electric vehicles, represents a big package of good news for the clean-tech industries. At the time Zac and I spoke, this was a story that was somewhat under the radar, overshadowed by news stories about the pandemic and the election. Since then, President Biden has completely changed the equation with his announcement that the federal government will electrify its vehicle fleet. However, there are several less glamorous, but equally important, changes in the wind, including a major shift in the utility landscape.

It wont take much to really make the switch fully happen, says Zac. Just a little bit of government incentives for solar and wind, and kind of a peeling back the layers of corporate lies and deception about both climate change, and also utilities. With home rooftop solar, I think theres so much that could be done there, but the utilities have locked this up for years by lying. Theyll say things like solar is dangerous for the grid, blah, blah, blah. But now that we have low-price batteries, now that we have the ability to have grid energy storage, their arguments are just completely out the window. I think this is going to be a huge decade, where we move forward. Because it was an artificial block, it wasnt a true technological block. Its great to see California [mandating] that you have to put the ability to have solar on the roof, that you have to put in a charging infrastructure for new houses. I think youre going to see more and more states [adopting similar measures] and its just wonderful to see it.

When you make the switch to EV and that thing actually switches in your mind, you start to look at each aspect of your life and go, Hang on a second, this doesnt make any sense. I want to put solar on my roof because now I actually have the ability to control where the power that goes into my car comes from. Its no longer, do I go to Exxon or do I go to Shell? It could come from my roof. Well, then I want as much solar as I can possibly get.

Zac and Jesse arent just journaliststheyre also activists, and one of their new missions involves helping people all over the world to organize environment-friendly projects on a local level. The thing thats going to make the biggest difference is for all these people who are having their lives completely changed to run for office. To get those people to say, Knowing what I know now, what needs to change in the system? So Jesse and I set up a non-profit this year called Now We Act. Were going to be unveiling a web site where you can put a pin on a map and you can say, Id like to start a project here. Whether its putting solar on the roof of your high school, or whether its trying to get your utility to switch [to renewable energy], you can get the help you need, so that you dont have to reinvent the wheel so that you can move your project forward.

Theres so many people out there who have great ideas about what they want to do in their communitiesgetting EV charging infrastructure, lets say. But they dont know much about how their government works. We know a lot about how to get this moving, and we know a lot of the people out there who do know, even if we dont know, so were going to be connecting people up that can help you to get that going in your community. And then you can repeat that. You can help the next group to walk through those steps and even speed up the process. Because once you kind of get that ball rolling, we can get this rolling across the entire world pretty fast.

===

Written by:Charles Morris

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Rivian R1T, Tesla Cybertruck: The Disruption Of The Pickup Truck Market - InsideEVs

Raptor vs TRX, 2021 Ford Raptor launched, Tesla bows to recall pressure: What’s New – The Car Connection

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2021 Ford F-150 Raptor vs. 2021 Ram 1500 TRX: Compare Trucks

The 2021 Ford F-150 Raptor and 2021 Ram 1500 TRX off-road performance trucks feature powerful engines, long-travel suspension, big off-road tires, and the ability to go off-road at high speeds.

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Raptor vs TRX, 2021 Ford Raptor launched, Tesla bows to recall pressure: What's New - The Car Connection

Thousands of Teslas recalled for insufficient software updates – Fox 59

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by: Fareeha Rehman, KRON, Nexstar Media Wire

Unsold 2021 vehicles sit at a Tesla dealership Sunday, Dec. 27, 2020, in Littleton, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) Nearly 135,000 Tesla vehicles are being recalled due to a touchscreen malfunction.

In a letter, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration pointed to defective touchscreen displays, apparently causing a malfunction in the defrosters and backup cameras in the Model S sedans and Model X SUVs.

The Jan. 13 letter claims Tesla provided confirmation that all [touchscreen displays] will inevitably fail given the memory devices finite storage capacity in vehicles equipped with the NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor with an integrated 8GB eMMC NAND flash memory device.

Tesla initially tried to avoid a recall and issued software updates instead, prompting the NHTSA letter, which is a step towards eventual legal action. The agency said it tentatively believes these updates are procedurally and substantively insufficient.

Now, Tesla says it will replace the screens computer processors starting March 30, but still stands firm in its belief that the failures are not a safety defect.

The NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation opened the investigation in June 2020.

NHTSA says this includes 158,000 MY 2012-2018 Model S and MY 2016-2018 Model X vehicles built by Tesla through early 2018, although Tesla agreed to recall fewer vehicles than that.

You can check if your Tesla is a part of the recall by entering your VIN here.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Thousands of Teslas recalled for insufficient software updates - Fox 59

The Road to 2021 and Beyond: Global Nanotechnology Market During 2021-2027: Applied Nanotech Holdings Inc., Altair Nanotechnologies Inc., Imina…

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Key players in the Global Nanotechnology Market: Applied Nanotech Holdings Inc., Altair Nanotechnologies Inc., Imina Technologies Sa, Thermofisher Scientific, Bruker Axs, eSpin Technologies, Inc., Kleindiek Nanotechnik Gmbh, Biosensor International, Nanoics Imaging Ltd and Advanced Nano Products, and more

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3 of the most pressing health care topics of 2021 – cerner.com – cerner.com

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While weve turned our focus to 2021, our entire health care communitys day-to-day is still very much concentrated on combating the global COVID-19 crisis. The pandemics devastation will be felt for many years to come, yet its expediting important forces that were already underway in shaping our industry. This presents an enormous opportunity to address and implement meaningful, long-term changes to our health care systems.

At Cerner, we see the opportunity of 2021 with numerous stakeholders motivated to make progress on finding concrete solutions to some of health care's most pressing challenges. While there are many issues to undertake, we believe COVID-19 has particularly accelerated and spotlighted the following topics.

1. Unifying a fragmented health care ecosystem

The rapid development, clinical trial execution and regulatory approval of the COVID-19 vaccine represents one of the most important medical events in the modern era. With around 3,000 lives lost each day to COVID-19 in the U.S. in January, urgent focus is now on delivery and administration of the approved vaccines.

Earlier in the pandemic, the health care industry experienced immense challenges around distribution and management of personal protective equipment (PPE), ventilators and bed capacity. As we move forward with a mass vaccination initiative, we continue to see issues with large-scale coordination across disparate health systems. In the U.S., unifying diverse health systems presents many glaring challenges, such as data sharing across enterprises, state allocations, logistical coordination of production and supply chain management and determining how to best prioritize the most at-risk populations. Continued improvements in standardizing health care IT capabilities should be addressed and are critical to enable a more seamless, coordinated and efficient care delivery system.

Cernersworkwiththe jointU.S.Department ofVeterans Affairs(VA)and U.S. Department of Defense(DoD)health information exchangeis a great example of how participating community providers now have a single point of entry to request and access DoD and VA electronic health records for use in their treatment of patients.

Our expertise and capabilities in leveraging big data and analytics can be central in addressing many of these logisticalburdensthat exist on both the enterprise andpublic healthsectors.It will require deploying data analysisin the same vein aswasusedtopredict COVID-19surges, ventilator supplyand ICU bed capacity. Also,keyto this effort will be our data monitoring and reporting systems forstates and local health departments.Earlyin the pandemic,Cerner helped clients voluntarily share relevant datato the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and National Healthcare Safety Network, allowing clients to easily share data on lab results, syndromes,PPEsupply and ventilator availability.

2. Making technology, data more effective for better patient-centered care

For many, the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted how and where we receive care. While technologies that enable care delivery outside the four walls of clinics and hospitals have existed for years, reimbursement, convenience and resistance to change have limited widespread adoption and use. An immediate catalyst for change was the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services temporary relaxation of telehealth reimbursement restrictions for safer care delivery amid the pandemic. Health care providers immediately responded by quickly adapting and expanding the use of digital tools to engage patients via telehealth and virtual health platforms.

For 40 years, Cerner has worked to connect consumer data and systems to eliminate data gaps and silos. Thanks to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology and their regulatory framework on information blocking, consumers will have more access to data through apps that use FHIR APIs to create longitudinal patient records in the electronic health record (EHR). Access to trusted data with a longitudinal completeness will help reduce the cost of care, increase access and deliver a more relevant and personalized experience.

Collaboration will continue to be critical for more efficient and effective health care that meets patients and clinicians needs. For instance, Cerner teamed up with Amwell to embed telehealth capabilities into the EHR, allowing us to support clients like Indiana University Health in rapidly scaling their virtual health offerings at the start of the pandemic increasing patients served via virtual visits by 100 times. Another example is our work with Uber Health, which enables providers to schedule non-emergency transportation services for patients directly within the EHR. In addition, were connecting Cerner technology with Amazon Halo wearable devices to allow consumers to easily connect their vital health and well-being information with their broader health care teams.

3. Advancing artificial intelligence for prescriptive and equitable care

Weve long known that health care, in a broad sense, is behind other industries in deploying extensive use of machine learning and artificial intelligence. The types of algorithms that drive social media and entertainment platforms like Google and Amazon have yet to become commonplace in health care delivery.

To advance this conversation, its imperative that one assumption is made as table stakes: Our industry will comply with privacy and security rules that ensure proper use of patient data, and patient authorization, where required, will be obtained. Cerner believes that patients own their data, but with the massive amount of health data thats generated, we need new algorithmic capabilities that support clinicians with integrated, actionable workflow insights. Fortunately, accomplishing this can be done with large anonymized datasets. This strategy is endorsed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration using real-world data to produce accelerated real-world evidence for better clinical and financial outcomes.

Cerner is relentlessly focused on employing data science and leveraging intelligence to enable value-based care delivery. Recognizing the importance of research design and peer reviewed evidence, we have created the Cerner Learning Health Network, which is currently comprised of 55+ U.S. health systems dedicated to sharing de-identified data to advance clinical research. The immediate value of this network was recognized in April 2020 when Cerner was able to quickly aggregate a COVID-19 dataset of 145,000 anonymized records for research.

Through our AWS collaboration, clients like Oklahoma State University and University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center were able to leverage AI tools at scale to rapidly advance their understanding of health variables, including social determinants of health, that may impact risk of COVID-19 symptoms. Over the last year, weve made strategic investments and established new partnerships in this area with the goal of transforming the speed and cost of producing real-world evidence.

While this list centers around three key areas for health care in 2021, Id be remiss if I didn't mention another important concern that should remain central to our list of priorities in the months (and years) to come, especially after the unprecedented year that we all endured.

Addressing the growing mental health epidemic

After a tumultuous year in which we waded through pandemic-fueled political, social and economic disruption we must think about how to use advances in health care to address the growing mental health crisis thats affecting so many. Opioid abuse and opioid use disorder are well documented. Yet, much of America continues to struggle with depression and anxiety disorders that impact their wellness and exacerbate the challenges of managing chronic health conditions. In addition, alcohol abuse endures and homelessness is reaching a crisis level in many of our communities.

Expanding our knowledge of the social determinants of health and putting strong networks of community support in place will be vitally important to better serve patients around mental health and wellness as we continue to battle this pandemic. The Cerner HealtheIntent platform helps health systems like Geisinger and Roper St. Francis Healthcare provide community-based holistic, prescriptive care. Reducing costs and improving clinical outcomes can only be achieved when clinicians and health system leaders have a comprehensive understanding of patient needs and gaps in care and can quickly access relevant data to actively manage risk.

Reflecting on 2020, Im reminded that adversity can reveal our strengths and help us embrace change. At Cerner, this is certainly how were approaching 2021. Were focused on our clients success and helping communities fight and recover, while continually pursuing innovations to create a better, more seamless and connected world where everyone thrives.

For more Cerner news and health IT insights, make sure you're following uson Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

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3 of the most pressing health care topics of 2021 - cerner.com - cerner.com