REGIONAL COMMITTEES: UCC
Report on UCC Regional Conference – Miami 2026 By Adam Crane
The UCC Regional Committee hosted the III North American Regional Conference in Miami, Florida on January 20-21, 2026, bringing together leading insolvency practitioners, financial advisors, judges, academics and lawyers from across the region for two days of engaging and thought-provoking discussions on trends and developments.
The conference featured a rich program exploring critical developments in international insolvency law and practice. The panels addressed a variety of topics including the rapidly evolving role of private credit in restructurings, jurisdictional complexities arising from multinational corporate structures, and innovative approaches to valuing and recovering diverse asset classes.
20 Panel Highlights The conference kicked off with the opening panel featuring Gemma Bellfield, Kelly Bourassa, Stephen Lerner, and Judith Elkin as moderator, who discussed Recent Updates on Avoidance Actions: Foreign Sovereign Immunity Defense and Extraterritoriality of Safe Harbours.
The second panel featured the Honorable Judge Martin Glenn as moderator along with Andrew Dawson, Sharon Hamilton and Nick Hoffman, and focused on Nation Privacy Laws and the Impact on Insolvency Proceedings. The panelists discussed how courts, lawyers and insolvency practitioners grapple with practical issues including privacy protection and obligations of official holders to ensure secure record keeping of personal data.
Following a networking break, the third panel featuring Shayne Kukulowicz, John Dodd, Adam Crane, and Tara Cooper Burnside KC as moderator, discussed the topic In Search of Assets: Jurisdictional Differences in Pursuing Recovery. The panel covered a variety of topics including common obstacles and challenges in the recovery process, tools available to trace and recover assets, and the interplay between civil and criminal proceedings.
The last panel of day one featured Paul Keenan, Rebecca Kennedy, Liam Faulkner, and Penelope Jensen as moderator, who engaged in a lively debate on Restructuring Foreign Companies: Navigating Potential Conflicting Decisions Among Courts.
Day two started with an engaging panel on Letterbox Jurisdiction Issues: No COMI, No Establishment, Now What? This panel featured Natasha MacParland, Caroline Moran, Adam Swick and was moderated by Nienke Lillington.
The discussion examined how courts across jurisdictions are grappling with increasingly complex multinational corporate structures and sophisticated forum selection strategies. Panelists analyzed recent jurisprudence from the United States, Canada, and offshore jurisdictions, highlighting growing judicial sensitivity to the distinction between legitimate restructuring planning and opportunistic forum shopping.
For the second panel on day two, Valerie Cross moderated a timely discussion on How private credit is reshaping the restructuring landscape. The panel also featured Eleanor Fisher, Joel Cohen, and Linc Rogers.
The discussion explored the explosive growth of private credit, which reached $ 1.5 trillion globally in 2023 and is expected to hit $ 3 trillion by 2028. Panelists examined regional trends,
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