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Public Policy Concerns Prevent Application Of Comity To Foreign Bankruptcy Proceedings That Discriminate Against Tax Obligations Owed To The United States Government, Michael P. Bigelow

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This Case Comment explores the application of comity to foreign bankruptcy proceedings, particularly when comity would render the Internal Revenue Service a general unsecured creditor in bankruptcy. The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held on public policy grounds that comity should not be accorded to a Luxembourg bankruptcy proceeding that discriminated against tax obligations owed to the United States government. This Case Comment discusses the factual setting for the instant decision and presents a brief history of transnational insolvency law. The author finds that the law of transnational insolvency is inconsistent and underdeveloped and that the …