SUBCHAPTER V: Essential Insights for Credit Professionals
Key Points
Subchapter V makes Chapter 11 more attractive to the “small business” debtors that are eligible to file under Subchapter V, but in many respects do so at the expense of unsecured trade creditors. While Subchapter V provides small business debtors with most (if not all) of the same benefits of a “traditional” Chapter 11 filing, it strips away certain elements of traditional Chapter 11 that benefit unsecured trade creditors.
Small business filings under Subchapter V dropped by 45% from June to July 2024 due to the reversion of the temporarily enhanced debt limit from $7.5 million to $3,024,725.
While Subchapter V has been praised for its efficiency, there are concerns over whether it truly facilitates successful reorganizations or merely delays inevitable failures.